Field Note Category: Cuenca, Ecuador

This week concludes the volunteers’ last week in their rural communities. Volunteer Michael wanted to take a moment to reflect on his time in Chobshi, his host community: My past few weeks here in Chobshi have gone by incredibly fast. I live in a house with three host brothers and one host sister. We live … Read More

Just like that, another week in community has gone by! This week was a rewarding one for both volunteers and project staff, as many micro-projects started this week. The micro-projects include a native plant garden, a small museum, fixing up a bike trail, indigenous cultural wall murals, and a dance presentation to raise money for … Read More

Volunteers arrived in rural communities this past weekend and they are all doing a wonderful job adjusting to community and beginning their microproyectos! Saturday morning saw our volunteers finally saying goodbye to each other, along with their urban host families, and heading out in all directions from Cuenca. Before they left, we had a few … Read More

Last week was the volunteers’ last in Cuenca with their urban host families and marks the halfway point of our project. Volunteers Ellie and Ashley wanted to take time to reflect on their time in Ecuador so far: Today was our last day in Cuenca and we wanted to take some time to reflect on … Read More

We’re more than 2/3 of the way through the urban portion of the Cuenca Project and we can hardly believe it! This week continued much like the last, with volunteers continuing to get to know and spending time with their host families, as well as a continuation of partner work. Despite a few scheduling hiccups, … Read More

Cuenca volunteers will be given the option to call home on July 13th. 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.

Week 1 with host families: Done! Our volunteers have had a full week settling in with their host families, getting to know the city of Cuenca, and starting work with three of our wonderful partner agencies. After drop-off on Saturday afternoon, the volunteers had the rest of the weekend to bond with partners and host … Read More

We are so excited to welcome our twenty-nine volunteers to the first-ever Cuenca, Ecuador summer project! The volunteers were received by a warm, humid embrace as they arrived in Guayaquil late Tuesday night. The international flight failed to dampen their spirits. Despite a late night, the volunteers were up early the next morning to catch … Read More

Hola Tod@s! I’m Megan, your Project Director for this upcoming summer! I’m extremely excited to meet all our participants and spend 8 weeks exploring Southern Ecuador together. It is going to be an invaluable adventure! I first discovered my love of Latin America in Monterrey, Mexico, where I spent two separate semesters, one in middle … Read More