Our Work in Cotopaxi
AMIGOS has worked with Grupo Social FEPP and PLAN International Ecuador in Cotopaxi for three consecutive years since 2010. In our fourth year in the region, half of the AMIGOS Volunteers will be complimenting Grupo Social FEPP’s Citizenship Schools initiative, and the other half will be working in conjunction with Plan International on topics surrounding gender equality and children’s rights. All Volunteers will carry out activities within the three major components of the AMIGOS Summer Program.
I. Community Service:
- Volunteers collaborate with local youth and their host community in the process of identifying, planning, and implementing a small-scale community-specific project. In the summer of 2012 these projects included: a pig cooperative, funding for a loom and training for a women’s sewing cooperative, and establishing inter-community soccer tournaments and purchasing sports equipment.
- Extracurricular activities - Volunteers will collaborate with local youth to co-plan and co-facilitate games and lessons for children surrounding weekly themes identified by partner agencies. Volunteers that are placed in FEPP communities will collaborate with FEPP representative and locally trained youth in their Citizenship Schools initiative, which include facilitating and participating in activities on the following themes: Values, Leadership, Respect, Interculturalism, Childrens Rights, and Participation. Volunteers in PLAN communities will collaborate with PLAN representatives and local youth on topics regarding Childrens Rights, Gender, and Sexual and Reproductive Health.
- Environmental conservation - 2012 Project Staff began building a relationship with the local Ministry of the Environment in order to organize maintenance trips to National Parks in the Cotopaxi region.
II. Intercultural Exchange:
- Living with a host family: Volunteers will have the opportunity to be immersed in Andean culture by living with a host family. AMIGOS prefers that each Volunteer is assigned to their own host family, however, occasionally two Volunteers are placed with the same host family. Volunteers are expected to act as part of the family, helping out with chores and taking part in day to day activities. Andean families highly value a good work ethic and manual labor, in order to gain respect it is particularly important that Volunteers placed in this region are committed to integrating fully into day to day life, and proactively seeking to take part in daily chores. Through this cohabitation Volunteers will learn about the local culture, while also providing host families with insight into their own habits, preferences, and lives back home. Although eating arrangements vary from one community to another, a common strategy is for Volunteers to have a rotating meal plan, in which they eat with different families in the community.
- Indigenous culture and Kichwa: Many Volunteers will be placed in Indigenous, mainly Kichwa-speaking, high altitude communities. In this project Volunteers will be immersed in a culture very different from the United States and also very different from the nearby mestizo communities. According to the 2001 census there are 14 distinct indigenous groups in Ecuador, which contain 32 different indigenous cultures, with variations on language, dress, and culture. Be ready to have your world rocked.
III. Youth Engagement:
- Local Volunteers: Prior to Volunteer arrival, two local volunteers will be trained by AMIGOS project staff on the basic program structure and planning and facilitation skills. Age and engagement of local Volunteers will vary by community.
- Youth conferences and cultural fairs – Volunteers will participate along with local youth in several project-wide conferences and events. These range in topics from theater workshops led by local University students, to conferences in order to “train the trainer” and provide Volunteers and local youth with more tools while they are carrying out their extracurricular activities. In Cotopaxi there are also community level and project level cultural fairs where youth and families from all communities come together to present and celebrate local food, art, and traditions. These structured, highly dynamic and interactive events are unique opportunities for Volunteers to interact with local youth and break down cultural barriers.
Required experience for this project
Volunteers on the Cotopaxi project should be prepared for tough environmental conditions. Our host communities are at high altitudes, ranging from 9,000 to 14,000 feet and are VERY cold at night, below freezing. Based on past experience AMIGOS requires Volunteers and Project Staff on this project to have previous backpacking or camping experience. Volunteers and Project Staff must be prepared for high mountain conditions.Although it is not required we strongly encourage applicants who are interested in indigenous cultures to apply for this project. Unique to the Cotopaxi project, most Volunteers are often placed in Kichwa-speaking communities where the culture is very different than the nearby mestizo communities.
About our Partners
Plan works in over 1,000 communities, promoting rights and a decent life for children and their families.
Plan's main target groups are children and teenagers who live in situations of inequality and vulnerability, and whose rights are infringed, as well as workers with disabilities and other groups in need of special protection.
FURTHER ACTIONS
Involving youth from across the Americas
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