You will live and work on the school campus for disadvantaged children. You will teach English to the students who range in age from 7 to 13. You may also teach other subjects such as basic math. You may also participate in the after-school activities such as sports. You will teach 5 days a week and approximately 30 to 40 hours per week will be spent volunteering at the school. Your weekends are free for you to explore Ecuador and interact with the local people.

It is not required for you to be a native English speaker to volunteer to teach English in this program. However, you should have strong English skills, both spoken and written. It is also recommended (but not required) that you know some basic Spanish. The school is a Christian organization and they have requested that the volunteers be of the Christian faith. You should also have an interest in teaching and compassion for disadvantaged and at-risk children. If you are flexible and patient you'll cope better and successfully complete your project as working conditions and the mentality of the people will be very different from what you're used to back home.

Rustic Volunteer Travel arranges volunteer meals, accommodations and strong field support for the duration of projects and optional travel packages. In Ecuador , volunteers generally stay with host families and accommodations are simple and clean homes in safe neighborhoods. Volunteers usually have a private bedroom, but occasionally rooms will be shared with a same-gender volunteer. Our host families are well screened and are respected members of their communities who live in affluent neighborhoods. Most of our host families have experience with hosting international volunteers. A host family stay is a great chance for cultural immersion and exchange. Orphanage volunteers may stay at their project as many orphanages have special rooms set aside for international volunteers and these accommodations are normally shared with a same-gender volunteer.

Volunteers receive three local meals per day (breakfast, lunch and dinner). We can provide vegetarian meal options, but needs must be detailed in a volunteer's application. Snacks and beverages outside of mealtimes are not provided; however, there are local restaurants and grocery stores near the residences in which we place volunteers.

Rustic offers unparalleled field support to volunteers to ensure a safe and rewarding experience. Once in Ecuador, there are many layers of support for you. The most important support comes from our country coordinator/field staff. The secondary support comes from the host project staff and members of host families and/or a homebase staff. Volunteers will have access to our country coordinator's mobile number and they are available 24/7. Throughout the volunteer project, our local staff stays in contact with volunteers either with face-to-face visits or via email/telephone. Our field staff will visit regularly (every 2-4 weeks) to make sure things are going well and as planned. However, if placement is far from our local offices, staff members will stay in touch via email/ phone. Volunteers are also welcome to stop in the offices at any time.

Specific details regarding accommodations, food and contact details for our local coordinator will be provided in personalized volunteer placement documentation prior to arrival.

This project is located in the Ecuadorian Amazon jungle in and around the town of Tena. Tena is a small and quiet city and the capital of the Napo Province. Tena is a popular departure point for treks, rafting and kayaking in the Amazon rainforest. Ecuador straddles the equator, from which it takes its name, and is renowned for being one of 17 mega-diverse countries in the world with 1600 bird species and 25,000 species of plants.

Volunteers can organize different possible excursions during and after the project to visit places of interest. There is a tourist infrastructure already in place the volunteer can use during weekends. For example: architecture, museums, city tours, fishing, rock climbing, festivals, restaurants, art, music, hotels, and much more.