Volunteer work is a fast growing area in which the conscientious tourist can commit valuable time and resource into various aspects of a nations development. It is an excellent way to visit a country and experience its culture, whilst getting to know its people and customs.

Positions are easily found in diverse areas such as: social work, agriculture, community development, human rights, health care, scientific research, animal welfare, education, in fact in many fields that are under resourced and could effectively use some skilled, and in many instances non-skilled but enthusiastic labour.

More often than not volunteers pay for these positions, normally around $10 a day. Payments cover the real costs of these programmes, such as food, transport, equipment, accommodation, promotion administration and so on. This allows a community or organization, usually with little or no funding, to benefit from the additional labour, the additional skill base and new understanding from intercultural exchanges.

My volunteer experiences in Ecuador have lead to a permanent position with the Fundación Brethren y Unida (FBU). On arriving in Ecuador I first spent 7 weeks volunteering at an organic farm called Rio Muchacho, where I had some amazing times and took the my first steps on the road to learning organic agriculture techniques (more information at www.riomuchacho.com). Following which I brushed by INSTRUCT, a Canadian agency who have established the community tourism network "Ecored" (for more info visit www.ecored.org ).
Through INSTRUCT I had the good fortune to meet the Fundación Brethren Y Unida where I now have a permanent position managing a community based volunteer programme. The foundation has worked on rural development in Ecuador since 1953, its current focus being sustainable development and natural resource management. It manages projects concerning; forest conservation and native species reproduction, food security, agro-ecological farming, alternative energies (biogas), reforestation for the restoration of water sources, and most importantly the continual training of community members in these areas so the skills and knowledge remain in the communities for further development.

Due to its projects, the FBU has developed fantastic relations with various communities. Using these links I have developed the volunteer programme to focus on rural family homestays. This time in a community provides a real insight into rural life, giving volunteer and community alike the chance to learn from each others experiences and customs. We place great emphasis on this intercultural exchange which helps to build the relationship and integrate the volunteer within the community. We also provide opportunities for volunteers to teacher assist in the local school.

The FBU invites volunteers to the hacienda Picalquí near Tabacundo, Pichincha, to learn various subjects, from forestation to organic agriculture. After 5 days, volunteers then travel to their chosen community where they live and work with a campesino family, following their daily routine and being received as one of the family. During this homestay volunteers inevitably witness a dramatic improvement of their Spanish. As a non profit Ecuadorian NGO, we use the fee to pay the family and the community for receiving volunteers, to cover the running costs of the programme (as detailed above), and the remainder is used for the maintenance of the foundation and its rural development work, through community training workshops.

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