COMMUNITY IMMERSION
Mountains of Ecuador
The Ecuadorean Coast
Ecuadorean Jungle

VOLUNTEERING
Ecuadorean Communities

KIDS' PROGRAMS
NYC Kids to Farms Summer Program


"Each morning before embarking on the day's activities, I participated in the daily chores such as milking the cow for the morning's breakfast, feeding the chickens, slops to the pig, and alfalfa cuttings for rabbits and guinea pigs. These chores were sometimes shared with the kids. Communication was rather limited with my minimal Spanish, but anyway they were more often in fits of laughter."

Gordon Smith
Reunion & New Zealand

Community Immersion Program: Mountains of Ecuador
Sierra Mulalillo


FIVE DAYS, FIVE NIGHTS
Sunday - Friday
+ option to extend

Arrive Sunday night in agricultural community near Salcedo, about an hour and 45 minutes south of Quito. The community grows organic fruits and vegetables and produces yogurt and cheese from milk collected every morning by residents of the community who own cows. High up in the pristine mountain paramo, sheep herders fleece sheep and grow grains, which they beat with a stick before separating the edible part from the chaff.

Monday, through Friday: (Click here to download Full Itinerary (PDF))
- Wake up early
- Milk cows
- Breakfast
- Hands-on activity, side-by-side with a farmer:
  • feeding guinea pigs and rabbits
  • making cheese
  • bottling yogurt
  • planting and harvesting
  • fleecing sheep
  • gathering wild mushrooms
  • bunching roses
  • killing and cooking guinea pigs.
- Lunch: sometimes cooked for you, sometimes you cook food you have gathered using local recipes
- Afternoon activity until about 4:30 pm:
  • Community representatives, accompanied by a bilingual guide, will explain about "mingas", natural medicine plants, community business associations, and more...
  • On two days, you will tutor English to kids/adults a local community center
- Evening barbecue/dinner with food that you harvested that day
- Hang out, give feedback on the day, sleep

If you like the community, you may arrange stay as a longer-term volunteer working on projects that interest both you and the community.

Fee: $320 to cover food, lodging, activities, bilingual (English-Spanish) guide, transportation, nature excursions and optional Spanish lessons.

2011 Dates: Sunday - Friday every week.




Questions? Contact Us.

Tien-Shun Lee, Community Coordinator
Phone: +1-716-228-7861 (USA)
Email: tien.shun@gmail.com

Alejandro Proaño, Community Guide
Phone: +593-8-450-6518 (Ecuador)
Email: alejandro.proanio@gmail.com