Fundación Cielo Azul (ECU-107)

Cielo Azul’s schools are located on the outskirts of the city of Otavalo, where classes are given to children and young people from the communities. Activities include agriculture, environmental care, sports, computers, and arts and crafts. As they are community schools, the family of each student is very  involved in order to promote development. The mothers  prepare the food for the school children and promote the consumption of the products they grow and take care of. 

• help at school in the areas of: English, Sports and Arts or in other areas where help is needed
• help in the school garden harvesting vegetables for lunch (this depends on the school the volunteer works at) 
• prepare/offer workshops or free-time activities for the children

It’s an advantage to speak good Spanish because the local people often speak Kichwa and you don’t learn a lot of Spanish in the family. They have to be very flexible and adaptable because the schools generally suffer from poor management and so things are always changing a lot. Volunteers have to communicate with people and integrate themselves within their community.

Sharing food or activities with the family and the teachers can open doors. 

Communities in the rural surrounding of Otavalo, an indigenous town about 2 hours from the north of Quito.

The volunteer will live with a host family and shared flat with volunteers.

The volunteer lives (3-4 days) in a local family in the community during the week. The family offers a simple life and food, most of the families nei ther have hot water, nor internet, nor washing machines, and sometimes they cook on the open fire. Because of this situation we have a flat in the center of Otavalo and it is open on Wednesdays and weekends for washing clothes and for taking a hot shower. Once a week, the coordinator of the project meets with all volunteers to share experiences, plan activities and work tasks, and resolve problems. Normally, the coordinator visits the volunteer four times a year directly in his or her project, or more often if necessary. Every three months they have a meeting in the office (Otavalo) with all the mentors of the volunteers to exchange and cooperate.