Volunteer Opportunities in Ecuador with CRACYP

Please read the whole of this page before applying for a volunteer opportunity and note that BASIC SPANISH IS NEEDED FOR ALL VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES IN ECUADOR.   We do not offer paid work, only unpaid volunteer jobs.

Skilled Woodworker to Design & Make Craft Souvenirs in the Galapagos Islands - As part of our organic Galapagos conservation project, we need to produce saleable souvenirs from guava wood (an invasive species) extracted from the islands.  We’re looking for a talented, artistic volunteer to design and start producing wooden handcrafts.  We hope you will teach a local person to continue your work.  Depending when you are there, you might also have a group of unskilled volunteers to help you with the simpler, less artistic tasks.  Volunteers skilled in pokerwork are also welcome.  This is a fantastic opportunity to use your talent to help conserve the Galapagos Islands.  Minimum two weeks in the Islands, accommodation costs are likely to be around $200 a week and you will need to pay your own flights.  To apply, email volunteer(“at”)progresoverde("dot")org with photos of examples of your work and three ideas of what you might produce.  Tell us a little about yourself, when you would like to volunteer and why.  This volunteer opportunity is available any time from March 2009 onwards.

There will soon be group volunteer opportunities for 2009 in the Galapagos Islands, so keep an eye on this page.  They will be for groups to do voluntary manual labour on our Galapagos conservation project.  Details and costs will be posted here soon. 

Volunteer writers - contact us if you are a professional or aspiring journalist in Ecuador who would like to write short articles for CRACYP.  If you have some knowledge of at least one of the many areas related to our work (sustainable rural development, appropriate technology, organic farming, ecotourism, Ecuador, environmental issues), you could help us promote our work to a wider audience.  Write to volunteer("at")progresoverde("dot")org and tell us about your area of knowledge and why you would like to write for us, suggesting a headline for your first article.

There are currently no other volunteer opportunities available within Ecuador with CRACYP.  Any new Ecuador volunteer program, conservation opportunities, voluntary work, reforestation projects, etc., will be published here as soon as they are available.  

Alternatively, volunteer online - virtual volunteering avoids the cost of travelling abroad and is an ideal way for busy professionals to offer volunteer assistence. Student volunteers can help out online whilst still at university.

Please note:

• Conditions in Ecuador (and other developing countries) are often difficult and progress can be frustratingly slow.  Genuine development is a slow, long-term process.  If you want to volunteer abroad, you need to accept that and realise that you just have to make the best of the situation at the time you are here.  'Success' is never guaranteed.

• Volunteer groups: minimum 1 week, 8 people with at least one Spanish speaker.  

• Solo volunteers: we usually suggest a minimum of 3 months to be able to make an impact here.  If you only have a few days, we suggest you visit as a tourist and tell us in advance that you'd like to help out with any tasks available while you are here.

• We don't have a volunteer service brochure.  Our opportunities are not a standard volunteer program, they are tailored for each individual volunteer.  Please read the website carefully before contacting us with questions.  Don't just ask for 'more information' - be specific.  

• Please note that we do NOT offer any kind of paid work or paid internship, nor can we help with costs for volunteers.  Please do not write asking for paid work, we only offer unpaid volunteer opportunities.

• We can't afford to subsidise your travel, accommodation and food - and even if we could, we would instead use the money to employ a local person, which would be far more sustainable.  Our fee covers your board and lodging and varies depending on the project you are volunteering with - ask us for an individual quote, but allow perhaps $85-100 a week in rural projects in or near San Luís de Pambíl, $150 - $180 a week in Quito or $220-300 a week in the Galapagos Islands.  You will also need to cover your flight and insurance; travel around Ecuador (around $1 an hour on the buses) and local travel in Quito (around $1 a day). 

• To apply for a volunteer opportunity, email your cv/resume (or a description of your group) and a letter explaining:  What you want to do, for how long and when; the skills and experience you have to offer; your level of Spanish, and what you want to get from your volunteering abroad (e.g. experience for new career; practise Spanish; etc.)  Note that whilst unskilled volunteers are welcome in groups, solo volunteers usually need to offer some relevant skill or experience - tell us what you can do and we will let you know what is available.  Make sure you've read the volunteering page as well.

• Volunteers need to have enough Spanish for basic communication, or volunteer in a group with at least one person who does.  We can't match individual volunteers up with groups, so please don't ask - you need to get together your own group, or learn enough Spanish to volunteer solo.  The better you can communicate in Spanish, the more you will get out of your time volunteering here.  You MUST have some Spanish before you arrive in Ecuador and even then we strongly suggest you spend your first few days in Ecuador studying to improve your Spanish.  There are hundreds of Spanish schools in Quito.