Voluntary Project Overview

This volunteer placement offers you the opportunity to work in a secondary school attended by children from underprivileged backgrounds. The school  has about 190 students and offers free education to pupils who have passed an entrance exam.  It is funded by a nearby private secondary school. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to teach and to experience living in the lovely colonial city of Quito.

The Volunteer Abroad Role

The main role in the school is to assist the English teacher in classes. There is only one English teacher so it is difficult to give the children personal help.  As an English speaker you will be a big asset to the school.  You will help the students with pronunciation and can tell them about your own life. The school are also in need of help in their Computer lab, teaching and also assisting with the general up keep of the computers.

Other Volunteer Abroad opportunities

You will also be able to get involved with afterschool activities, especially if you have a particular skill such as playing sport or if you can play an instrument. The teachers may also appreciate help in improving their English.

Voluntary Programme Requirements/Eligibility Criteria

Any teaching experience is obviously a help for this role but is not essential. Knowledge of Spanish is essential. If you wish to improve your Spanish we can organise classes in Quito before your placement commences.   There is a 3 month minimum stay for this project. Before leaving why not take our TEFL weekend in order to prepare you to teach and to provide you with some tools to make your lessons effective.

Volunteer Accommodation and Living arrangements

During your stay we will organise for you to stay with a local family. This can either be in the village or in the city of Quito itself. If you choose Quito you will need to take a short bus ride to the school. Breakfast and dinner are provided with the family, which is a great way for volunteers to experience local community life and culture.

There are many activities that can be done in Quito during your career break in Ecuador. Trekking, mountain biking, and white water rafting are easily organised.  Quito itself offers many markets, theatres and even supermarkets to pick up some western indulgences! There is a cable car that you can take to Pichincha, an active volcano.

What’s included in your Programme Fee?

• Project selection and placement - Our in-country teams work constantly to identify and select projects that are doing exemplary work in developing countries but need your skills and effort. Our staff are in dialogue with you to ensure that we choose a project that really needs you, where you will use your skills and contribute, because at MondoChallenge, we believe that a great volunteering experience is largely dependant on matching you with the right project
• Pre Departure Briefing - Before you leave, we will arrange for a pre departure briefing where we help you with small but extremely helpful details on your chosen destination. Things like: what to pack, local culture and customs, food, safety and precautions if any - simple things to make your life easier!
• Guidance for processing visa - MondoChallenge will arrange for any relevant documents and guide you through the visa process.
• Airport Pick Up - Arriving in a new city and not knowing where to go and how to go can be quite unnerving. A MondoChallenge representative will meet you at the airport and take you to your place of stay where you can put your feet up after a long flight.
• In country Orientation and Welcome Pack - When you arrive at your location, you will be given an orientation where you could meet other volunteers from MondoChallenge, learn all about your location, how to find your way around, where to get SIM cards for the phone, small bits that you will need help sorting out in the first few days.
• In Country Support - Our local co-ordinators are there to guide you through out your stay. They will make sure that you are settled at your project, are comfortable with your accommodation and provide guidance on local culture and customs to ensure that you have a memorable and rewarding experience.
• Accommodation - In most cases you stay with a local host family. It gives you a taste of the daily life of a local. You will be sharing a room with another volunteer, however if you prefer to have a single room to youself, this can be arranged but a cost supplement may apply. If you prefer totally independent accommodation, this maybe possible in certain areas at an additional cost and our Programme Managers will be able to assist you with this.
• Breakfast and Dinner - Local home cooked food, will be provided at the home stays. This gives you a chance to experience local dishes.
• Optional Contribution to the Education Grant - The Educational Grant helps projects like the one you will volunteer with, to get basic infrastructure and resources. Open air schools need a roof, some need tables or chairs and some need books for children. We identify needs and constantly work at improving the conditions at our partner projects. We also encourage you to identify needs at your project and let our local management know of any specifics that you feel may help. The grants are made through our registered charity, FutureSense Foundation (Charity No: 1132101). In the project fee above we recommend an optional contribution towards these grants. If you would like to fund raise or contribute further amounts towards this directly to the foundation we can assist you through the process.

Not Included:

• International Flights
• Visa and Travel insurance Costs
• Vaccination
• Local Transport and Travel
• Personal Expenses

Project photos

Testimonials