Why Volunteer in Ecuador?

Nowhere in the Americas can you find a concentration of cultural and ecological diversity
to rival that of Ecuador’s.

This diversity was the setting for the fluorescence of some of the hemisphere’s most
advanced early civilizations. These indigenous cultures were greatly damaged --but not
destroyed-- by the disease, violence, and lust for gold and silver that accompanied the
Spanish Conquest. Later, U.S. economic and military policy took its toll on the political
autonomy and human rights of average Ecuadorians. The post-Columbian experience of
Ecuador and the Andean region has largely been a byproduct of two clashing
philosophical and cultural systems resulting from the physical and economic colonization of
Latin America.

Today --more than 500 years after the initial colonization-- Ecuador is a fascinating
country steeped in political transformation, incredible cultural diversity, popular social
change movements, and highly organized ecological and economic justice activism. The
economic crisis that spurred the government’s decision to dollarize the economy in 2000,
also sparked the rise to power of Pachakutik, the world’s most successful Indigenous-
based political party, and a national re-examination of state power and agricultural policy.
Social movements in Ecuador are at the global forefront of grassroots political organization
and egalitarian land reform.

These projects provides volunteers with the opportunity to learn about land use issues
and the incredible social dynamism of Ecuador through Service Learning work, community
home stays, and talks with political activists, politicians, economists, students, campesino
and indigenous organizations, and the rural agrarian people that are the backbone of
Ecuadorian and global society.        
TOP
Projects / Volunteer Opportunities

Service Learning in Ecuador:
Volunteer Delegations for Adult, University and
High School Groups- 9 & 15 Day Itineraries

Finca La Fe Permaculture Farm
Cantón Cotacachi

Peribuela Primary Forest Conservation Project:
Cantón Cotacachi

Pijál Community Tourism and Trout Nursery Project
Cantón Otavalo

Eco-Tourism and Cultural Preservation Project:
Yacuchimba, Volcán Cayámbe Region

Pucará Eco-Pueblo Project and Spanish School:
Intag River Valley

Morochos Sustainable Agriculture Initiative
Cantón Cotacachi




Community Guides

Peribuela: A Guide for Visitors

Pijál: A Guide for Visitors

La Chimba: A Guide for Visitors

Pucará: A Guide for Visitors
ECUADOR
Inter-American Center for the Arts, Sustainability,and Action


Centro Interamericano para las Artes, el Sustento, y la Acción