Volunteer programs
The community of Wachimak welcomes volunteers from all walks in life. The main volunteer program is teaching English. If you feel uncertain of your skills as an English teacher, you can take a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course online, which is if great help. More info here.
If you wish to learn Spanish before your placement, you can check out our Spanish schools section by clicking here.
In your free time, you can also help working with agriculture and sometimes, especially after material donations, a helping hand will be needed with construction work, but the future plan is to build bathrooms for the kindergarden, for the family homes as well as more lodges for volunteers and visitors. We can also use the help of engineers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, doctors, dentists and people educated in agriculture. We also accept journalists and travel writers if you wish to write about our community and we encourage our volunteers to write a blog about their stay, if they have a blog.
The volunteer program fees include food and lodging while in Wachimak. You will need to take care of your own expenses outside Wachimak. If you need a place to stay in Quito, Guayaquil or Tena before going to Wachimak, here you can find cheap places to stay:
- Guesthouses in Quito (prices from $5.60 USD / night)
- Guesthouses in Guayaquil (prices from $8.90 USD / night)
- Guesthouses in Tena (prices from $12 USD / night)
N.B: Please bear in mind that this is a very raw community project and volunteers therefore need to know how to work independently and on own initiative in order to achieve success with their work, or else you might find yourself using most of your time just waiting around for something to happen. There is a lot that needs to be done, and enthusiastic volunteers are always of great help.
Educational program:
Volunteers assist teaching English to young children on primary school level from Monday to Friday, and older children on Saturdays and Sundays, depending on their schedule.
As part of the educational program, volunteers also teach English to the adult members of the community once a week for 2 hours. The goal is to help them express themselves in basic English, teaching them to interact with tourists in English.
Special needs:
The Wachimak school is low on resources and volunteers are encouraged to support the school with material donations, if possible. Some of the things you might find missing / needing are:
- Whiteboard markers
- Notebooks
- Pencils
- Erasers
- Paint
- English-Spanish/Spanish-English dictionaries
- Balls (football, volleyball, basketball, ping pong)
- 60 bags of cement for construction
- Kindergarden bathroom
Blogs from previous visitors and volunteers: