Field Note Category: Chimborazo, Ecuador

Greetings from supervisor Hannah’s route! Volunteers are enjoying their last week in community, and are seeing their community based initiatives come together. Many are working hard on their bucket lists and trying to squeeze in as many activities as possible! In Atapo Culebrillas, Elise and Wenzhao are working on creating a community bank led by … Read More

While volunteers spend most of their time in-country with their host families and communities, they were able to be tourists in Guaranda for midterm. After phoning their families, volunteers enjoyed pizza before heading out on a tour to several different tourist places in Guaranda. We visited Las Cochas, the guitar museum, and a spot where … Read More

Our volunteers have made it through their first week in community! Despite week one being the hardest in terms of adjusting to the culture, language, food, and climate, I am so proud of all of my volunteers for maintaining positive attitudes and fully engaging with their communities throughout the week. They are meeting local youth … Read More

This week we are featuring our supervisor Ben’s route! Ben is from Denver and works in Larcapungo (Andrew, Aidan, and David), San Francisco (Hallie, Emily, and Eyob), Yacupamba (Katherine and Emma), and Yuracrumi (Sophie and Linnea). Here are some highlights from his first week on route!  Yacupamba Ben made french fries, rice, and scrambled eggs … Read More

Chimborazo volunteers will be given the option to call home on July 18th. Some of you may have already heard from your volunteer! If you do not hear from your student, it is not cause for alarm. Many volunteers prefer to remain immersed in their summer experience and elect not to call home at all.

This past week was an incredibly eventful week in Chimborazo! Our volunteers arrived in the early morning of the 26th after flights from across the US. After spending the night in Quito, volunteers travelled to our briefing location, Guamote, where they met other volunteers from Costa Rica and Ecuador. They hit the ground running and … Read More

Hi everyone! I recently returned to Chicago from a whirlwind of a week in Chimborazo, Ecuador. The week started with a meeting with leadership from our partner organization, Plan, in Quito, with staff members Rossana and Catalina. We recapped last year’s summer and made some preliminary plans summer 2019. We later visited the Tourism Police … Read More

Hi everyone! My name is Eleanor Dollear and I’m the Chimborazo Project Director this summer. I’m really looking forward to meeting you all in a few short months! AMIGOS has been an important part of my life for the past decade. In 2010, I left the country for the first time to travel to Matagalpa, … Read More

Last week was busy with planning and practicing and on Saturday the 4th all their hard work paid off. The presentations were amazing. Some of the participants came dressed to impress, walking in with the traditional wear of their community. From songs to dances to amazing skit and videos, they really stepped up to the … Read More

What was that you said? Life is made of moments… This summer has had its challenges, but here in Chimborazo, participants are determined to make the most of the time they have left in community; cherishing time with their host family and enjoying their partner(s). This unique opportunity this summer has allowed for growth on … Read More