Welcome to the TravelPod forums

[bagheera]

Has anyone had any experience with an animal rescue centre outside Quito called Hacienda Santa Martha? I'm planning to volunteer there in September, but would love to talk to someone who's done it. I'm also curious if anyone's done any wildlife volunteering in the Amazon. I'm looking to split my time between the rescue center outside Quito and one that's deeper in the jungle. Any advice would be much appreciated!

[happytraveller]

Hi, I know that this is a really late reply but if anybody else is looking at this with the same Q, then they may want to know.

I volunteered with Santa Martha Flor de la Amazonia (the Amazon one) for 6 months and it was by far the best volunteer experience that I have had. It is run by the people who work day to day on the project and this is really valuable to a volunteer placement. With other volunteer placements there is often little organisation and oversea agencies usually have no idea and no control about what is going on.

Santa Martha relies on its volunteers, and progress can be seen on a weekly basis. There is a real sense of direction and volunteers leave knowing that they have made a difference and that there work will not go to waste.

The Amazon location is a much pretty and nicer location to work, but the Quito location has the large animals and big cats, it is probably worth trying them both out, but a longer stay at the Amazon location is recommended.

The two sites have recently severed links with each other but are both still operating. Along the same road as the Amazon is the Arajuno Road Project, which works with schools and offers volunteer placements and has a similar volunteer ethic to Santa Martha. Here are the links for future reference.

Santa Martha (Quito) (animals): http://www.santamartharescue.org
Santa Martha (Amazon) (animals): http://://www.santamartharescue.org/amazonia.html
Arajuno Road Project (Amazon) (teaching): http://www.youvolunteer.org

[ecuadorjody]

www.artedelmundoecuador.com
We are a non profit Arts, Language and Literacy group creating a Library for the children of Baños, Tungurahua, Ecuador (LA BIBLIOTECA INTERACTIVA DE BANOS)


We are seeking with or without experience (willing to learn) VOLUNTEER ENGLISH TEACHERS and VOLUNTEER LIBRARY HELPERS in our children's library.
We prefer a 1 month minimum commitment. We have fully furnished volunteer rooms here at the Library at a very inexpensive cost.

We are always looking talented Spanish-speaking ARTISTS and inspiring ARTS EDUCATORS AND WORKSHOP LEADERS, who are interested in sharing their skills with our staff and willing to be hands-on collaborators on projects aimed at children, youth and teachers.

REQUIREMENTS
We prefer volunteers with a minimum age of 23.
Other than that, age does not matter! Life experience is great!
If this sounds like something you might like to do:
Take a look at our WebPages www.artedelmundoecuador.com
or email us: artedelmundo21@gmail.com