Opportunities in Ecuador

SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS

ORGANIZATION: HOSPITAL DE NINOS BACA ORTIZ

Nature of the Institution: This is a hospital which houses the following centers:

Child and Infant Nutritional Recuperation Center
Center for children with cerebral paralysis
Center for invalid adolescents

In addition, the hospital has the following facilities:

Operating room, laboratories, diagnostic center, clinic, pharmacy, second hand clothing store, school for children with learning disabilities and physical handicaps, and various other projects.

Responsibilities of Volunteer: Volunteers can choose to work in the area that they are most interested in or where their skills can be put to best use. The work mainly involves spending time with and assisting in the care of the full time residents of the home. Volunteers can work full time or part time and their schedule and the area they wish to work in, will be arranged on site.

ORGANIZATION: CENTRO LOS NIÑOS DE LA CALLE

Nature of the Institution: This is a private organization supported by UNESCO that provides counseling and support for street children and their families to enable the children to return home. The organization works within the public school system as well as directly with the children in the streets. They also provide temporary homes for the children. The Centro is located in the northern part of Quito.

Responsibilities: There are two of positions available. Those with Social Work or Psychology specialization's can help the regular full time staff with counseling for the children. Those without specific qualifications can help in areas such as administration, homework, activities and general care of the children.

ORGANIZATION: CENTRO DE AYUDA EN LA CÁRCEL DE MUJERES

Nature of the Institution: The group was founded and is funded by a group of professional women to provide support and counseling for women with a variety of problems in jail.

Responsibilities: Depends on skills and experience. May involve a variety of tasks from administrative to direct support of counselors.

ORGANIZATION: LA CALETA - HOUSE FOR CHILDREN

Nature of the Institution: La Caleta provides food, shelter, clothing, and education to poor children.

Responsibilities: Depends on skills and experience. May involved a variety of tasks from administrative to direct support of counselors.

ORGANIZATION: DISPENSARIO MEDICO DON BOSCO

Nature of the Institution: This is a social medical program. The dispensario is run by a Catholic organization but the volunteers don't have to be Catholic or members of the organization to participate. The "Dispensario Don Bosco" houses the following:

diagnostic clinic
pharmacy
second hand clothing store
school for children and various other projects.

Responsibilities: Volunteers can work in the area where of most interest to them or where their skills are most needed. The work mainly involves spending time with and assisting in the care of the full- time residents of the home. You full or part time schedule will be arranged on site as well as the area that you will work in.

ORGANIZATION: HIJOS DE LOS PRESOS (CHILDREN OF PRISONERS)

(The Street is in La Recoleta behind the Ministry of Defence, just past the Angel de la Guarda School.)

Nature of Institution: The Children of Prisoners is a home for children who have nowhere to go whilst their mothers are serving time in jail. The home provides them with some form of stability and a guarantee of food and a roof over their heads, until their mothers are released and they can return home. The children stay at the home for varying lengths of time but all of them are without parents and desperate for attention and love.

Responsibilities: To spend time with the children, to play with them, help them with their homework. The most important thing that these children need is someone to care for them, to pay them attention and listen to what they have to say. The "Children of the Prisoners" desperately needs volunteers who can give a lot of love to children who need affection more than anything else in the world.

ORGANIZATION: HOGAR DEL NIÑO "SAN VICENTE DE PAUL" (orphanage)

Nature of the Institution: This is an orphanage run by Nuns, consisting of 6 different houses each with approximately 15 - 20 children living there. 5 of the houses are for children aged 2- 18, the other house is for babies aged 2 and under. There is only one Nun living in each house so the orphanage is desperately short staffed and looking for volunteers to help the children with their everyday activities or even just be there to pay them a bit of attention.

Responsibilities: Volunteers have no specific responsibilities, their only duty is to be with the children in the orphanage, play with them, help them with their homework and listen to their problems and most of all give them lots of love, as they have no-one else who will.

ORGANIZATION: FUNDACIÓN DE LA MUJER CAMPESINA:

Nature of the Institution: This is an organisation set up to teach women in rural areas in the province of Carchi about health, diet, hygiene and to help them improve agricultural techniques. This is a good programme for both those interested in social work and those wishing to be involved in ecological projects.

Responsibilities: Volunteers will spend part of their time in Quito at the administrative headquarters of the organisation, developing new projects to help the rural communities. The rest of their time will be spent on location in Carchi, with the local women, teaching them about how to prevent disease and illness by the use of basic hygiene, sanitation and by improving their diets. In addition volunteers interested in agriculture and ecology can become involved in the development and improvement of farming methods. For example the " Fundación" needs volunteers to help with the following programs; training of farmers, conservation of the farmland with natural fertilizers, the planting of hedges, the digging of irrigation ditches and the cultivation of vegetables and crops to improve the diet of the inhabitants of the area.

Volunteers interested in working on the agricultural/ ecological side of the project, will speak directly to Inés Lluminquinga on arrival, to decide their working hours and whether they wish to be involved in all the projects or just concentrate on one particular area.

Accommodation and meals: This placement requires volunteers to work about 4 hours north of Quito. The volunteer will receive three meals a day and housing, there is a charge of 150 dollars a month.

ORGANIZATION: COMITE DEL PUEBLO: PARROQUIA SAN JOSÉ OBRERO

Nature of the Institution: The Comite de Pueblo was originally a communist commune set up in the 1970's but it has grown into a huge slum in the North of Quito housing over 70,000 of the city's poorest people. Many of the houses still lack electricity, heating and indoor plumbing.

In the 1980's Padre Colin a Scottish missionary came over to Ecuador to try to help the people of the slum. Since his arrival he has built a church, a school with a school canteen to ensure that the children of the slum get at least one good meal a day, a library and a hospital with basic medical facilities for the inhabitants of the Comite. All of these facilities lie on the outskirts of the slum. In addition he is currently engaged in a variety of projects to improve the living conditions of the people in the slum and try to ensure that they have access to clean water.

Responsibilities: There are opportunities for volunteer work with the children of the Comite every afternoon, volunteers are needed to look after the children, help them with their homework and generally entertain them. This is an ideal volunteer placement for people with lots of imagination who can create entertainment for the children, with very few resources. Past volunteers have written and directed plays or set up art and craft sessions. The most important thing is to be enthusiastic and able to share your energy with these children who have nothing waiting for them when they go home to their houses in the slum.

There may also be opportunities for volunteer work in the hospital and with the housing projects.

ORGANIZATION: FUNDACIÓN REINA DE QUITO:

Nature of the Institution: The "Fundación Reina de Quito" is an institution made up of the ex - beauty Queens of the city of Quito, who on leaving their post, dedicate much of their time and energy to charitable projects to help the children of the city. There are a number of initiatives which the "Fundación" supports, for example, work with street children, work to improve the city of Quito and various other charitable projects. One project in particular is desperately in need of volunteers to work with Down Syndrome children.

Responsibilities: In the mornings the children are divided into groups according to their mental abilities and volunteers are needed to work with them to improve their manual dexterity and help them to learn how to write or draw. In the afternoon the children receive individual therapy which concentrates on physical aspects of their development. Volunteers do not have to be physiotherapists, as the "Fundación" will provide training to teach them how to administer physical therapy to the children

ORGANIZATION: FUNDACION ENFERMERAS SALUD Y DESARROLLO

Es una fundacion privada sin fines de lucro, y no tiene ayuda del gobierno. Esta Fundacion apoya a la mujer con Servicios Medicos como en ginecologia, cirugia general, consulta externa, ecosonogramas, laboratorio, odontologia, cuidados pre-natal etc.

Aparte de los servivios medicos, la fundacion imparte Educación con Motivación Personal, Educacion Sexual y Capacitacion Ocupacional con charlas y conferencias guiadas exclusivamente al desarrollo de la mujer de escasos recursos en la sociedad.

Su horario de atencion es de 8 am a 12:30 pm, y de 15:00 horas a 18:30 horas.

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

ORGANIZATION: COLEGIO 24 DE MAYO

Nature of the Institution: This is one of the biggest and best known public schools for girls in the city of Quito. The school is very helpful and willing to offer the best facilities for all foreign volunteers.

Responsibilities: English as a Second Language teacher responsible for planning and implementing classes for girls of various ages and abilities. Classes are taught 2-4 hours/day. Sessions run from: October to June but it is not a requirement to work the whole year.

ORGANIZATION: ACADEMIA LATINOAMERICANA

Nature of the Institution: The Academia is an institution which teaches Spanish as a foreign language, in addition to organizing various cultural activities for the students during their stay in the city of Quito.

Responsibilities: Student services coordinator position available for a well organized dynamic person. This is a very popular program, which means that there is a lot of work to be done. Volunteers will be involved in a variety of tasks from translations, international correspondence, organization of cultural activities, and special projects.

CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS

ORGANIZATION: SALA DE ARTES KINGMAN OR GUAYASAMÍN

Nature of the Institution: A privately funded art museum located in the commercial part of Quito. It promotes understanding and knowledge of modern art. The exhibits are mainly works by Guayasamin and Kingman. There is also a section displaying pre -Inca works. Guided tours are offered as well as art related lectures.

Responsibilities: Those volunteers who are professional artists can give art classes to children and adults, other volunteers are needed to talk about art to children and encourage their participation in museum activities. Translators are needed for correspondence and logging from the guest book. Also, help is needed in recruiting and training local volunteers.

ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

ORGANIZATION: BELLAVISTA CLOUD FOREST RESERVE

Nature of Institution: This reserve is formed by sharp and deeply forested mountains descending to gorges with rushing waterfalls and crystalline streams and the views stretch far away to distant volcanoes. Only two hours from Quito, Bellavista is the perfect place for adventure, for relaxation, and for discovery of the cloud forest, its birds and the diversity of plant life.

The goal of bellavista Reserve is to educate the public on the significance of biodiversity in tropical cloud forest and the ever increasing importance of the forests protection.

Our volunteers can work from Monday to Friday and be in Quito for the weekend, or the hall week. The Bellavista reserve works in a variety of areas from cloud forest protection to promoting ecotourism.

Responsibilities: Clean trails, work as a guide, natural interpretation for sefl guided trails, etc.

Accommodation and meals: This placement requires volunteers to work about 2 hours north west of Quito. The volunteer will receive three meals a day and housing, there is a charge of 150 dollars a month.

ORGANIZATION: RESERVA FAUNISTICA CUYABENO

El bosque huemedo tropical amazonico permanece como uno de los ultimos y mejor guardados. La biodiversidad, la abundancia de todas las formas de vida sean plantas, animales o microorganismos es mayor aqui que en cualquier otro ecosistema. la cual esta localizada al nor-oriente del Ecuador. protegiendo 603.000 hectareas de tierra firma virgen.

El Cuyabeno es además una intensa experiencia cultural que busca conservar las culturas de las personas que han compartido la selva con sus plantas y animales durante siglos, Los Cofanes, milenarios habitantes de esta zona con quienes podra el volunatrio tener un contacto diario y aprender con ellos sobre plantas medicinales, sus costumbres y forma de vida.

El voluntario ayudaria a conservar los senderos tablados y de tierra, ayuda en las excursiones en canoa por el rio Aguarico, excursiones nocturnas etc.

La permanencia del voluntario en la reserva dependeria de sus estudios y experiencia en el campo.

ORGANIZATION: MACCHI PUCUNA FOUNDATION

Nature of Institution: An environmental protection agency that works in a variety of areas from cloud forest protection to promoting products of local indigenous groups.

Responsibilities: Activities depend on season, current funding, and participant's experience.

Accommodation and meals: This placement requires volunteers to work about 3 hours north west of Quito. The volunteer will receive three meals a day and housing, there is a charge of 150 dollars a month.

COMPANIES FOR INTERNSHIP

ORGANIZATION: SEGUROS EQUINOCCIAL

Nature of the Institution: This is a well known Insurance company with 26 years of experience, it deals with a variety of different insurance claims but specialises in Property, Fire and Personal Injury Insurance. It also has two subsidiaries in Quito which deal with health related insurance. Last year Seguros Equinoccial was the most profitable insurance company in Quito. It is a business funded entirely by Ecuadorian money and the major shareholder is the Mayor of Quito, so it has a lot of prestige within the city.

BACK TO THE TOP