Internship in Sustainable Development with CRACYP

An internship in sustainable development with CRACYP is an ideal way to gain practical experience for a career in rural development, sustainable agriculture, fair trade, ecotourism and similar fields.  

Please read the whole of this page before applying for an internship opportunity.   NOTE: We do not offer paid intern jobs, only unpaid internships which require a contribution.

Internship in Sustainable Rural Development - Gain practical experience in sustainable development, organic agriculture,  fair trade, sustainable tourism, engineering and similar fields.  Interns participate in CRACYP's current projects in rural Ecuador, experiencing a range of challenges to gain as much exposure as possible to different aspects of rural development.   This type of internship or apprenticeship is the ideal complement to theoretical studies at university.  Experience the reality of working in grass-roots development with a small NGO (which is very different to development policy-making with an international organisation).  

In addition to seeing and experiencing the work of the NGO, each intern will take responsibility for an individual project, which might be a small stand-alone development project, or one phase or aspect of a larger project.  Interns will be expected to produce a project report detailing activities, development outcomes, learning points and recommendations for the future.   Interns are supervised by CRACYP's sustainable development coordinator Nick Ohde.  See our Volunteer & Intern News for some examples of recent intern projects.

A Development Workshop is held each month for interns to explore different aspects of sustainable development in rural areas and network with local experts working in this field. 

The summer months are now mostly full (unless we get cancellations), and we are looking to recruit interns for September onwards.  We have some ideal opportunities for a semester abroad:

Priority internships: 

• Ecotourism - there are a range of internships available on an ecotourism project.  As well as general ecotourism managemet, for example, there is entomology - surveying the forest to produce an inventory of insect life for an ecotourism project; ecotourism guiding - training local guides; financial planning - creating business plans and training local people to use them.  

• Green building/construction design - an intern to design and carry out construction of cinder-block cabins to house tourists for an eco-tourism project.  

• Watershed management intern needed to combine existing work on agroforestry, water resources management and mapping with new research to create holistic watershed management plans.

• Agroforestry intern, to evaluate which species would be appropriate for local farms, train farmers on the multiple benefits of planting trees, maintain and improve a tree nursery.  

• Soil fertility intern to explore ways of boosting soil fertility by training local organic farmers in such methods as green manure and compost - Spanish skills useful.  

• Business consultant to evaluate and improve recordkeeping and organizational practices in a small community enterprise engaged in organic agriculture and fair trade.

• Microfinance - ongoing development of a new community bank and emergency loan program, relevant studies/experience and strong Spanish skills needed.  

• Nutrition education interns, to design and implement interactive, participatory training programs for rural farming families with limited education in an area where malnutrition is common.  Strong Spanish language skills and good cultural sensitivity needed.  

• GIS / GPS specialists, to create an initial maps database of local area for use in natural resource, transportation, and logistics planning for the local community - basic Spanish needed.  

Examples of intern development projects available currently or in the future include:  

• fair trade - developing marketing strategies, evaluating and improving fair trade compliance, carrying out a production cost analysis, creating monitoring systems, reviewing health & safety, quality control and more for fair trade projects including organic rum and organic chocolate; 

• organic agriculture - improving soil fertility, organic pest management, managing water resources, forestry

• engineering - road engineering: evaluating damaged rural roads, designing a solution so rural farmers can access markets; water usage analysis on organic farms

• Business/finance interns - production cost analysis, interviewing farmers to understand their cost of living and cost of producing alcohol. Good Spanish needed.  Also an intern to analyse management and administration costs of small organic, fair trade community enterprise and identify cost-saving opportunities to make the business more competitive, intermediate Spanish needed 

• waste management - evaluating and improving waste management practices in rural areas;  

• developing and teaching an educational program, including literacy clubs and basic primary school classes.

The internship program is open to those who have studied, are studying or are going to study international development, sustainable development, ecotourism, fair trade, organic agriculture, permaculture, rural development or similar subjects.  Also, there are occasionally opportunities for internships (or volunteer placements which may be suitable as internships) for engineers, GIS / GPS specialists, healthcare professionals and others - get in touch to see if we have anything suitable.  Internships are available for 4 to 12 weeks.  For details of how to apply, see the Sustainable Development Internship Program information pack (download from the link at the foot of the page).

If this program sounds attractive to you but you are looking for less responsibility, fewer than four weeks, or have not studied a relevant subject, you can still participate in something similar - see our volunteer opportunities in Ecuador for details.  There are also volunteer placements for specialists, for example dentists or dental hygienists.  

Internship FAQs:

• Can I intern as part of a group?  Groups of interns (with or without professor) are welcome by arrangement.  Contact us to design an internship program tailored to your course if you have a group of 4 or more prospective interns.  

• Will I be paid as a development intern?  No.  We do NOT offer any kind of paid intern job or paid internship, nor can we help with costs for interns.  Please do not write asking for paid work, we only offer unpaid internships which require a contribution.

• Why should I have to pay for my internship?  Interns develop skills and gain experience, which they then take elsewhere to profit from in their future careers.  We can't afford to subsidise your costs - and even if we could, we would instead use the money to employ a local person who would stay in the area and use their developing skills and knowledge for the benefit of the projects we work on, which would be far more sustainable.  Intern contributions allow us to provide employment for local people, in an area of extreme poverty where very few jobs are available.  See the Sustainable Development Internship information pack for details of the costs involved and the food and accommodation provided. 

• Do I need to speak Spanish?  Ideally, interns need to have enough Spanish for at least basic communication.  If your intern project involves working closely with local people, you will need intermediate or advanced Spanish skills.  The better you can communicate in Spanish, the more you will get out of your internship here.  The internship program coordinator speaks English, but you need to have some Spanish language skills before you arrive in Ecuador.  Even then we strongly suggest you spend your first few days in Ecuador studying to improve your Spanish.  Ask us if you would like recommendations for a Spanish school, or see learning Spanish for more ideas.   

• What is the difference between the internship program and the volunteer program? Interns are responsible for their own individual development project.  The internship program includes a development workshop each month.  The Intern Contribution also covers our time for filling out whatever forms or reports are required by the intern's university.  Internships are for 4 to 12 weeks; volunteers are accepted for 1 to 8 weeks.  For more details, see the Sustainable Development Internship Information Pack or the Volunteer Information Pack.  

• When is the best time to undertake my internship? Interns are welcome almost all year round, though the project is closed from early December to late January, to avoid the worst of the rainy season.  Summer internships are particularly popular so you should apply well in advance for the summer months.

Download the Sustainable Development Internship 2013 Information Pack for more information about what is included in the Development Internship Program, the costs involved and how to apply.  Download the the Costa Intern Pack to learn more about the area in which you would carry out your internship.