Projects

EDUCATION:
The community does not run its own school, but 2 km away we have two schools. One is bilingual, Kichwa and Spanish, and the other school is taught only in Spanish. These schools need people to teach English, or to teach another subject that volunteers have an expertise in. The desire of our association is to serve and to educate. We recognize that it is important for the youth to be aware of other many subjects, including languages such as English. English is a global language, and as tourism is a source of development in the community, English is a useful language to attract and communicate with tourists. Thus they would generate a better income for themselves and for their communities.

AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITY:
The daily life of the people here in the tropical forest customarily consists of agricultural tasks, or “chagra”, such as the cultivation of yucca, banana, and other crops included in their traditional gardens. Volunteers can help to prepare the land for planting, harvest products, and maintain order and cleanliness in these garden areas.

CONSTRUCTION and PATHS:
The community is in the process of constructing a large cabaña to house volunteers. In the future, they would also like to build houses for craft-making and for tourists. The work consists of planning, construction, maintenance, clearing areas to plant botanical gardens, and opening more paths to guide visitors.

ANIMAL BREEDING:
One of the biggest objectives is to begin to raise animals that are in danger of extinction and to farm fish to supplement our nutrition. We need volunteers to help us create projects and to motivate us all to rescue the animals in our area that are in danger of extinction. Volunteers can also help to take care of the animals and maintain the order and cleanliness of these areas.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION:
The community urgently needs education about the environment, because most of the people here do not know much about how to conserve our environment. It is necessary that volunteers coordinate with the community to devise seminars and workshops on the conservation of our natural resources and to help create practical solutions.

CRAFTS:
Here in the community we devise a lot of traditional crafts. Volunteers can learn how the crafts of the Kichwa are produced, such as ceramics, necklaces, and “shigras”, traditional bags woven from plant fibers. For this it is necessary to cultivate seeds that can be useful in craft-making. Furthermore, volunteers can learn to weave typical clothing in fine fabrics and decorate them with different colored seeds, which are ultimately used in the dance and music of the Kichwa.

BOTANICAL GARDENS:
Volunteers can help to plan, form, and plant botanical gardens, to identify the plants, and to create and place attractive identifying signs.

FISH FARMING:
The community raises fish for food. Volunteers with expertise in this area can help strengthen the farming program. They can also help to care for the fish, and clean and improve the quality of water in the fish tanks.

JUNGLE NURSERIES:
Volunteers can help to form nurseries of medicinal plants, and timber, and thus we can enrich the forest and the traditional gardens.

UNIQUE PROJECTS:
We want to encourage volunteers to develop or investigate their own projects, which should be self-financed, although aid will be provided by the community. Volunteers that desire to carry out their own projects should send a detailed description of what they would like to do. We invite medical students, veterinary students, forest engineers, biologists, professors, anthropologists, etc., to come and implement their own studies, projects, or theses in our forest and in our community. We are happy to receive you.