The La Sierra volunteers have officially arrived!! They are already learning about food sustainability, life on a farm, and the different methods of agriculture from the staff at the beautiful Granja Learnaya. This week, they will engage in Spanish classes, visit the beautiful botanical gardens of Cuenca, and hike through the alluring Cajas National Park. … Read More

The La Sierra team is so excited to start welcoming volunteers soon! We have had so much fun exploring the La Sierra region, and we are sure you will too. From its lively cities to its serene natural landscapes, this project has everything you could possibly need to fall in love with the region. During … Read More

Welcome to the La Sierra Project 2022! We are so excited to have you here! My name is Katiana Soenen, and I have the pleasure of being this year’s Project Director for the La Sierra program. I’m thrilled to introduce you to the AMIGOS staff team who will work hard to ensure this project runs … Read More

July 30, 2021 By Elena, Naomi, and Brooke This week we traveled from La Granja to Kinti Wasi, a community farm run by three indigenous women, Carmen, Jacova, and Veronica. In Kichwa, Kinti Wasi means “house of the hummingbirds.” We’re surrounded by mountains in every direction and all the buildings are covered with beautiful murals … Read More

July 23, 2021 It’s been a week since we arrived at the granja. We’ve been having a lot of fun while working on the farm and continuing to improve our Spanish skills through online classes (partnership with the Xalteva School). Our work on the farm included building rock pathways, painting signs, hoeing the soil, planting … Read More

July 19, 2021 We are so excited to share what we have been doing! We have had an amazing first three days. We all arrived in Houston on July 13 and met everyone except Jesus and Maria, who we met later at La Granja. Jesus and Maria are from La Costa de Ecuador and took … Read More

July 2, 2021 Hi everyone! This week, we traveled to Kinti Wasi, an indigenous community nestled in the green mountains and fog of Canar in the South of Ecuador. Three indigenous women, Veronica, Jacoba, and Carmen, started Kinti Wasi in 2016 to resist emigration by reinvigorating indigenous Ecuadorian tradition. On our first day here, the … Read More

July 1, 2021 Hi Everyone! The second week of La Sierra Session A has flown by in a blur of excursions, Spanish classes, storytelling, dancing, and so much good food! We started the week with the incredible Inti Raymi celebration, which marks the solstice and celebrates the Sun and Mother Earth. While sitting around a … Read More

After project staff met the volunteers in Quito, we arrived at our beautiful first project site Granja Learnaya early on Wednesday! After getting settled in, we dove into icebreakers to get to know each other better. Soon after, we sat down for a delicious Ecuadorian meal prepared with many vegetables from the farm that we’re … Read More

¡Hola panas (friends)! Over the last two weeks that we (Project Staff) have all lived in Cuenca, Ecuador, we’ve picked up several helpful local vocab words that will help you hit the ground running when you arrive shortly! (These are in addition to the vocabulary that was introduced in the Project Information Packet, which you … Read More