Volunteer with street children in Quito, Ecuador
Are you looking for an adventurous trip with a purpose, or on a gap year or career break? If you want to make a difference in some of the world’s most important conservation areas - and in community projects - then volunteer trips are for you! Volunteers tend to have a sense of adventure, and come from a range of different backgrounds and from all over the world.
Edward Abbey said 'sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul'.
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
By helping the community, you will also be helping the environment. At the centre they recycle the materials that the children can use for different activities, such as recycled paper, it is also a way of stimulation to educate children with values to protect the environment. In the centre, the children have the chance of being educated and learn to care for the nature that surrounds them.
In mainland Ecuador, we work with different rehabilitation centres that work on the rehabilitation of injured animals and illegal pets. We also work with conservation projects throughout the Galapagos that focus on restoring native species and conserving the current state of the islands. Through our programs our volunteers are encouraged to participate and in their efforts. They actively participate in the activities of these foundations and a portion of their program fees goes directly towards operating finances of these projects.
In our office we try to maintain environmental consciousness by recycling, limiting our water usage and using energy efficient light bulbs. We also try to limit unnecessary waste by using electronic documentation when possible, rather than paper documents.
Community
The institution that we work with, provide services specifically to street children. They focus on children who are socio-economically disadvantaged. These children come from difficult backgrounds. Some of them have suffered from physical and emotional abuse, others have parents who have migrated to other countries in the search for a better future and live with a relative. Some of the children’s parents have problems with alcoholism and drugs.
Volunteers will be staying in host a family, which is a great opportunity to learn about our country, and become immersed in our culture and language. At the same time, this helps to the local families who find their way of living by hosting participants. We employ local staff, they are all from Quito or Ecuador. Most have attended local universities. New staff is trained accordingly. We have partnerships with local hostels and hotels. We work in contact with local producers to try to limit our carbon footprint.
Many of our programs directly involve community members. Whether it may be from teaching football to local youths, to teaching English to indigenous children or helping to build homes for needy families, we are always community oriented. We do encourage our participants to take public transportation or walk, most find it refreshing and easy to use. There are three main public transportation systems in Quito: the Ecovia, the trolley and the bus system. We tell all our participants about these services.
When we do not provide food services to our participants, we encourage them to eat at local restaurants. There are many local restaurants that offer incredible varieties of food at affordable prices. Travellers get to experience new cuisine and this money goes directly to the local community. We have informative information sessions before the travellers begin their program.
1of5
