Ecuador: Indigenous Communities

Project Summary

Santa Ana is a multi-ethnic community composed of members from the Shuar, Achuar, Záparas and Qichwas indigenous tribes. This community obtains their income from traditional sources of commerce: fishing, agriculture, hunting, horticulture, handicrafts, tourism, conservation and reforestation. Santa Ana's community consists of 60 families and is one of the 32 communities in this area.

Due to infringing urban development and tourism, these indigenous societies have been forced to compete with major cities in commerce and trade and to reform their lifestyle to accommodate the inflow of tourism into their communities. As a result, they need the help of international volunteers in order to build infrastructure and develop their communities so that they can compete with their more urbanized counterparts and live a sustainable lifestyle.

At a Glance

Minimum Program Length:	2 weeks
Start Date:	Every Monday
Arrival Date:	2 days prior to your Start Date (Saturday)
Minimum Age:	18 years old
Volunteer Gender:	Male and Female
Accommodation:	This project is located in a rural area where you will have the opportunity to experience indigenous life and culture. Volunteers will be sharing a room with another volunteer or a member of the family.
Food:	The community and the family will provide you with 3 meals per day. Vegetarians can be accommodated as well.
Pick-up Info:	A Volunteer Visions representative will be waiting for you at the airport in Quito and transportation will be arranged from the airport to your accommodation in Pastaza. The volunteer coordinator will also take you to your project location the first day so that you become familiarized with the route to your destination. The coordinator will also introduce you to the staff of the project so to ensure that you are properly placed in the program.
Project Schedule:	4-8 hours/day, Monday - Friday Project Closed Dates and Holidays :: December 22 - January 1 (Christmas Holiday) :: May 24 (Easter) :: August 10 (Carnival) :: October 9, November 2-3, December 5-6 (Guayaquil)

Your role as a Volunteer

Volunteers on this project will find themselves involved in a range of these exciting activities:

:: Rain forest reforestation farming
:: Horticulture and Pisciculture (fish farming) programs
:: Wildlife research and investigations
:: Construction of a Women's Center in the community
:: Infrastructure construction and maintenance
:: Help in the kindergarten (nursery) of the community
:: Ceramic production
:: Anthropology work for volunteers with proper experience

Project Location

This project is located in the Amazonian Rain forest in the beautiful and natural setting of Pastaza, canton Mera, an 8 hour drive from Quito.

Suggested Skills and Interests

This placement is for volunteers interested in the history and culture of the indigenous people of Ecuador. This is an opportunity for volunteers to interact directly and live amongst what is left of the indigenous community in Ecuador. Due to the remote nature of the project location, volunteers should be experienced or open to living without the common amenities.

Suggested Language Level

Supplementary Spanish language classes are offered at the local language school in Quito for volunteers interested in practicing and learning Spanish. The classes are run by certified ESL teachers and the groups are typically no larger than 6 students.

Although these classes are not mandatory, we suggest that you take these classes if you have little or no background in Spanish. Classes start at $70 for 10 hours of language instruction per week with additional hours of instruction per week available for $110/15hrs per week and $140/20hrs per week. These fees are added in addition to your program fee so if you were to participate in 1 week of language courses at 10hrs/week and 3 weeks of volunteering, your total fee would be the 4 week program fee plus the fee for 1 week of Spanish classes: $675+$70 = $745. If you are interested in enrolling in the Spanish course, please state this in the comments section of the final application form.