Volunteering in Ecuador can be hit or miss.  Everything in Ecuador can be hit or miss.  It´s how the place works.  Buses don´t show up, the power goes out or the government decides to change something and tell people about it the day before.  It keep things interesting.  Once you live here for a while you get used to it.  A friend of mine puts it this way, "You definitely learn to let go of expecting everything to work out and you have to adjust to that. At first it is hard, then you start to joke about it, then you learn to make do and find other ways to get things done."

When applying to volunteer here it´s important to know what your diving into.  Doing homework was never my strong suit but before I came here I lived with a friend whose career was working for non-profits after the Peace Corp.  He gave me the benefit of his expertise and I started hitting the books with a laptop.  I went through literally hundreds of organizations who offered volunteer programs.  Suffice to say there are good organizations and there are those who charge a ton of money for basically nothing.  To be honest, I´m still doing my homework.  One of my best friends here was in the Peace Corps and then worked for them training new volunteers, supporting them while they were in the field, and generally keeping on top of the Ecuadorian realities I mentioned above.  I also make it a point to find people and organizations that are doing good here and get to know them.  From the founders to the volunteers there is a lot to be said for just talking to people.

Some good advice about finding a good organization to volunteer for in Ecuador.

Volunteering here usually costs money.  The companies and foundations that they work with aren´t privately funded and your work and your money is very much appreciated and put to use from the day you arrive.  When researching look at the most expensive option.  These usually include all the costs of travel, operating costs, food, and lodging, and then have some recreational activities that aren´t included in the lower priced, highly publicized pitches.

A friend whom I met here who was volunteering in the Galapagos in an area that didn´t have access to fresh water.  The group's food and water was shipped in by boat and a few days they didn´t show up.  Any operation worth their stripes works with people that can manage to take care of their charges.  They also know that the price to keep these people is worth it.  Keep that in mind.

Hit the volunteer forums and keep looking until you find someone who knows what they are talking about.  I spent a huge amout of time looking for people in Ecuador who knew what the present day conditions were and who was making a difference on the forums.  They are out there but remember that so are travel agents, people who have been here once and think they figured everything out, and those with something to say and nobody to say it to!  Find contacts and use them.

Once your in touch with a company and contact, introduce yourself.  It´s important.  I wrote each company that I was interested in a brief history of who I am, the reasons why I was interested in volunteering, and my experience and goals for travelling to Ecuador.  If someone responded with a personal response citing some of what I wrote with, I figured that they were a good lead and kept in touch with questions about the program and the country.  If I got solid answers I put them on my list for people to go with.

Since I´ve been here I have become friends with more than a handful of the people who make up the companies and organizations that are the volunteering scene in Ecuador.  I´ve worked with them, volunteered for them, and hang out with them on a regular basis.  I can realistically say that there are about six that I would recommend without hesitation if someone asked me at the hostel or bars where I have worked.

The top of the list is a company called Lead-Adventures.  They have about twenty-five programs in Ecuador and they constantly monitor and adjust them according to how they are running and the feedback from volunteers.  This is important as adjustments are needed almost weekly.  It´s the way things go.

An example is a friend of mine was working as the volunteer coordinator for a well known animal rehab center.  They decided to close on a weekend when she was in Quito without telling anyone including the volunteers coming to help during the next week.  My friend went to Lead for help. It´s what they do and are known for.

They have a three week volunteer program to the Galapagos where people are working on three islands doing much needed conservation work.  Their program works.  Their volunteers come back happy.  The foundation where the majority of time volunteering is spent has been there for eighteen years.  To put that in perspective, a friend whose expertise is better than most when it comes to the Galapagos as his education and work revolves around the islands, doesn´t think people pay enough attention to the environment now and sure weren´t paying attention to what they were doing eighteen years ago.  Really. Conservation is achieved with long time frames.  It takes years to reintroduce a species of plant wiped out by one brought in on a cargo ship.  Years!

To get people interested, Lead combines travel, volunteering, tours, and days off.  They put people in homestays, at hostels, and in volunteer accommodation where the food is mentioned because people like it and volunteers would go back to see the people and the islands.  The people that volunteers work with are Ecuadorian and so are the people at Lead.  That matters as they can work within the system to improve  it.  It takes innovation, it takes skill, and it takes persistence.  These are the people who make the difference and ultimately make an experience volunteering worthwhile.

That´s why I like lead.  They know all of the above and think that anyone who has a program for volunteers need to be adept at keeping it running and keeping their volunteers involved while getting something out of the experience.

My experience with Lead-Adventures volunteering was in a leadership role when a friend who was a guide here had two groups and needed someone to take six college age volunteers to the coast on another conservation project.  I drew the short straw.  Lead-Adventures were the in country support and go to guys for my rookie trip.  I´m glad they were.

The problems I encountered started on the first day during what was supposed to be a relaxing time on the coast.  The one American in the group re-injured his back and needed to get home to see his personal doctor.  It just happened.  After hours worth of phone calls to doctors, parents, doctors again, airlines, and then parents again, Pete was on his way to the nearest city with an airport.

Things didn´t slow down.  I had security issues, unhappy volunteers who didn´t realize what they were getting into, and roads that washed out country wide when we were supposed to be going back to the capital.  Everything got sorted.  We switched sites because of the security and the volunteers inclinations, and through a third set of phone calls managed to find the one bus company still operating that got us home safely. That´s why I´m glad Lead is still around and shows no sign of slowing down.  I don´t know anyone else who could of done it.  Even the Peace Corp volunteers were on lock down that weekend and weren´t allowed to leave where they were until a few days after we got back.  It pays to have experience here.

As for me I´m still making friends with guides, people who can offer volunteer programs with confidence, and adding to my knowledge about non-profits and how they are succeeding and where they don´t.  My latest find was two friends who are starting an independent non-biased website where volunteers from programs all over the world can write reviews of their experience or compare companies offering similar programs.  More on that when it gets off the ground.

And for the record, Peter, the volunteer who hurt his back and had to fly home on the first day?  He came back three wee later none the worse and caught up with his group for the last five weeks of the program.  That says something!

If your interested in Ecuador or volunteering feel free to contact me through savvytravellerecuador@gmail.com

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