Volunteer suggestions in Ecuador

I want to do volunteer work in Ecuador, a lot of people have recommended me the Ecuador Volunteer Foundation.
There is somebody can tell me your experiences about this organization?

Thanks

I came to work in Ecuador with ecuadorvolunteer.org , I had a very good experience with this organization. I worked at the kindergarten for a month and I enjoyed the challenge of working with the children. It was hard work, thy can demand a lot of from you and exhausting after the 100th time of hearing "da la vuelta", but the children were all so vibrant, fun and made the experience a positive one. Also the staff and everyone else working there are a credit to Ecuador and were always friendly and passionate about making the volunteer feel comfortable.

I am actually currently volunteering through The Ecuador Volunteer Foundation in Quito. I work in a children´s center in the city, and it has definitely been one of the best experiences I have had. The Foundation actually sets you up with a program to work with that they have reviewed and verified as legitimate. It´s a really good system because you know that you are helping a program that really needs help (as large or small as it may be), and you have the reassurance that you aren´t jumping into an unknown or shady situation. And they also have volunteer opportunities ranging from children work to ecological work (even though kids are so much cooler than trees... or at least I think so). But yeah, I definitely recommend the Foundation. I also recommend staying with a family while you are here because you´ll find it so much more helpful, and you still have a lot of freedom. Good luck!

Heey!

Im actually on my way to Ecuador myself, Im heading there the 10th september and it all veeery exiting. You see, I came in conbtact with the organisation Volunteering Ecuador, www.volunteeringecuador.org, were I will work with them for 6 months or so. My goal is to set up my own library in one of the orphages, so would be cool to get intouch with who ever going there as volunteers, no matter what organisation you work for. But so far, as I know, Volunteering ecuador is a smaller organisation, but sounds really good!!

Let me know what you deside to do!

Love, Anne

I volunteered with Volunteering Ecuador last summer. I had a really good experience with only a few objections. I met some of the best people, who were also volunteers, we did alot of traveling on the weekends and saw alot of the country. It is a smaller organization and much cheaper than other organizations. You stay with a host family and all of my friends were pleased with their host families. I and the girls who stayed with me, had more difficulties with our host family. Strangely enough we stayed with the director of the organization and his wife. At first everything was great but as the time went on we felt more and more unwelcome in his home, at times i found him to be stingy and rude and was disapointed that the only bad experience i took away from the trip came from the director of the organization. All in all I would still recomend the organization, just don't stay with the director's family and be up front about what you want to take away from the volunteer work. If you want to teach tell him, I got placed at a daycare and found that I was more in their way than a help, and everyone I talked to, former and present volunteers, all said that they had the same experience with the daycares, I asked to be moved to a school, and had a great time. In the end it was a great experience.

Emily

Hello,

Have a look at http://www.volunteersouthamerica.org they index a lot of free or very low cost solution

Also, the ESL Cafe http://www.eslcafe.com if you plan to teach english

You have to be aware that having a Foundation in Ecuador is a fantastic way for Money Laundry, tax relief, and government grant. Therefore you will probably find plenty of Foundation pretending to help the community when their main goal is to increase their bank account.

Having said that, there are plenty of Fantastic organization (foundation) doing a great job for the country and the community.

When you are in Quito, pay a visit to the South American Explorer club, they ve got a big index of Volunteer work available in Ecuador,and feedback are usually left by previous volunteers

I volunteered in Quito last summer and I can't recommend enough the organisation I volunteered for. It is called CENIT, El Centro de la Niña Trabajadora and it has a school but is also so much more. It's emphasis is on education for a better standard of living and has a variety of programs you can volunteer on and the most beautiful children! Check out their website to see what you think, I don't think I can add it here but google CENIT ecuador and it will come up.

I know you will have an amazing time whatever you do but i have such fond memories I just wanted to share!

cecilia

Hey, I also volunteered with Volunteering Ecuador. It was the cheapest volunteer program that I could find, but I had a pretty bad experience. I think i stayed with the same host (the director of the program) as Emily and I felt that he was really fake and rude.
I know others that had a great time volunteering but they all had problems when staying with him and ended up moving out. So i would recommend NOT staying with the director but the volunteer program is fine. Like Emily said, be sure to tell him exactly what you want to do and what you want to experience, otherwise you might get chucked into folding disposable bandages at the children's hospital like I was!

If you are interested in other free/grass-roots volunteer options
in Ecuador (and elsewhere in South America) try here:
www.volunteersouthamerica.net

HTH
Steve

Hi essev,
Just wanted to clear up that Volunteering Ecuador is a very different organization than the Ecuador Volunteer Foundation.
I was just reading these posts and it caught my attention, and I want to clarify that Ecuador Volunteer is actually a really fantastic organization. I was a volunteer in this organization and it was just a wonderful experience. The people are great and you make friends so easily inside as well as outside of your volunteer project. The staff is great, and they try to make your stay as comfortable and satisfactory as possible. In addition, everyone I had ever talked to absolutely loved their host family.
There are all kinds of projects, too, so its pretty much got something for everyone. They have free projects for people with experience, and for people who just want to get out there and help but have not studied in that area, there are low-cost projects in which ever volunteer that applies is accepted.
Anyway, essev, this organization IS one that I would highly reccommend, and I hope that you will check it out in depth.
If you want more information, check out their webpage at www.ecuadorvolunteer.org
Caitlin