Project Life
Explore South America

Sample day:

Rainforest Expedition in the Ecuadorian Amazon - Expedition members will spend the majority of time working on the various scientific research projects to collect and collate scientific data. You will also be involved in working directly with students and teachers on education (environmental and teaching English) and construction projects. The initial couple of weeks will be hard as you will have to adapt to the change in environment and learn the different skills needed to do research. The days are long, beginning at first light to take advantage of the early wildlife activity and continuing to work throughout the day. Night surveys are also conducted regularly throughout the expedition.

Volunteer work with children in Ecuador - You will travel to the communities on a daily basis from Monday to Friday in a minivan (or a safe public bus if you are working in Larcacunga). The journey takes approximately 1 hour from Otavalo up into the rural mountains where our communities are based. We leave Otavalo at 7am and are back in Otavalo by 2.30pm. The school day starts at 8.00am, and the morning classes runs until around 10.45am. At 11.00am we feed the children lunch that we cook with help from the local mothers. The afternoon class runs from 11.30 until 1.00pm. After this we clean up the classes with the kids, and give out fruit. The minivan, or public bus leaves to go back to Otavalo at 1.30pm after some playtime with the kids. The classes are mainly based around broad topics such as mathematics, language, social sciences, sports, and art.

Volunteer in Peru - Once Spanish classes are completed, or you are not taking the Spanish classes, you will work in the chosen community from Monday to Friday. Days begin early, eating breakfast with the host family before you meet the pickup at around 7.15am and travel to the designated communities, situated about a 30 minute drive along semi-paved roads, to begin classes at 8am. Morning lessons are interspersed with breaks and finish at 1pm, whereupon you will have a short break for lunch, before the ‘aula abierta’ sessions, which continue until 3.30-4pm. After this, you will return to Arequipa.

Sample Week

Volunteering times will differ from one project to another. Some may involve working afternoons or weekends, yet you will always have free time to explore the local communities and take advantage of the varied and exciting side trips on offer.

For more detailed information on these particular projects, life in the field and other side trips follow:

Rainforest Expedition in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Volunteer in Peru

Volunteer work with children in Ecuador