Volunteer in an indigenous community in the mountains of Ecuador.  Live with a host family and experience local culture first-hand.  Share your energy and skills with the community, working in either education or health.  Offer English or math classes for our scholarship students and friends or assist nurses and doctors in a rural health center.  Participate in community work days to improve the facilities or help out at a native tree nursery.  Meet traditional healers, indigenous leaders, students, and families.  Hike to alpine lakes, waterfalls, and sacred sites with your new friends.

You should have the ability to hold a basic conversation in Spanish and a desire to make new friends and learn about Otavaleno culture.  Specific teaching or health care credentials are not necessary.

"The six weeks I spent in Ecuador gave me the chance to live with some of the kindest, most caring, and welcoming people I have ever met. The experience of sharing a home with a local and indigenous family in Otavalo allowed me to learn about their culture in the most intimate of ways."
-- Lily, volunteer from Maine

Itinerary:
June 23: Arrive in Quito and travel to Otavalo
June 24-25: Orientation.  Stay in a hostel in Otavalo with the group of volunteers and coordinators.  Learn about local culture and idioms, prepare classes or brush up on health care skills.  Experience Inti Raymi festivities and explore the Otavalo market and surrounding area.
June 26: Move in with your host family
June 27 - July 23: Volunteer work and homestay.  Work with other volunteers to give vacation English classes to students or work with local nurses and doctors in a rural health center.  Spend time with your host family and friends in the community.  Help harvest corn and bake bread with its flour.  Visit interesting sites in the area and participate in community activities, such as work days to improve the village infrastructure.
July 24-28: Travel to the coast with your group.  Go whale-watching, see wildlife, and enjoy the beach.  Prepare for re-entry into your home life.
July 29: Fly from Quito back to the United States.

Cost: $1850 - does not include airfare but does include food, lodging, activities, supplies, and transportation within Ecuador.

See a map of the Otavalo area

"It was a wonderful experience; I learned about her culture and her language.  We shared so many experiences together.  I was her guide and we went to tourist sites, traditional festivals, to my university, etc.  We were very sad when she left, but she said she would come back; for me she is another sister."
-- Claudia, host, regarding the volunteer who stayed with her family 

"It has been a life-changing and humbling experience.... Thanks for an awesome summer."
-- Kristy, volunteer from Minnesota