The task of helping those in need is sometimes overwhelming for anyone who sincerely wants to change things. But the simplicity of giving one’s heart, time, and experience to a single person, albeit seemingly small, is enough to make a world of a difference. One needs only remember that that one change in that one person is a step towards changing the world for the better. Volunteering is the opportunity to truly make a difference in someone else’s life. It is an experience that one carries with them for the rest of their life.

Depending your Spanish level and your time commitment, your volunteer opportunities include:

• Outreach with Working Children and Their Families from the Streets and Markets.
• Student and School Support Programmes.
• Medical Attention, Health and Sexual Education Programmes.
• Kindergarten.
• Social Work, Psychology, and Family Intervention.
• Physical Education, Chorus and Art Classes.

Outreach with Working Children and Their Families from the Streets and Markets
Volunteers bring various educational activities to the streets and markets where children work. They befriend the children and their families, and provide the children a refuge in which they have the opportunity to be children in world that expects them to be adults.

Student and School Support Programmes
For children who have fallen behind in their studies, or failed to study at all in order to work, we offer opportunities for volunteers to help them catch up to the appropriate level of elementary school through an intensive study programme. Volunteers also help children with homework, as many of their parents cannot read or write. Additionally, volunteers are needed to help in overcrowded classrooms, to teach English, or to teach themselves.

Medical Attention, Health, and Sexual Education Programmes.
These programs offer volunteers opportunities to gain experience in the medical field. They can assist doctors with patients in free clinics. They also give talks on sexual health, personal hygiene, and family planning.

Helping with Children of Kindergarten Age
Volunteers work in kindergarten classes, helping teachers with anything from teaching basic English, to art classes and corporal expression.

Social Work, Psychology, and Family Intervention
Volunteers accompany social workers on house visits for problem cases. They can also assist psychologists with analyses of patients, or conduct psychological research. The family intervention programme entails giving presentations to parents on alternative discipline and childcare. There is a lot of overlap in these programmes.

Physical Education, Chorus, and Art Classes
Volunteers work with Ecuadorian teachers or alone in teaching exercise and physical health to young children. They can also help children improve their self-esteem singing in choral classes or in teaching adults and children alike painting and sketching skills. The adults that volunteers teach have opportunities to sell their paintings for an additional source of income so that their children do not have to work.

If any of these programs are of interest to you, we will be happy to send you further information. Please email us at www.homestay-ecuador.com