Ecuador - Teaching in Apuela

This small Andean mountain town is in the province of Cotacachi on the western slope of the Andes (1800m), and is less than 3 hours west of Otavalo, which is only 1.5 hours north of the capitol Quito.

Located in the subtropical forest at about 1800m above sea level, it is part of the Chocó Bioregion, one of the ten biologically most important areas of the world.  The biological diversity is amazing as there are more endemic species (plants and animals found only here) than even the Amazon basin!

In Apuela, volunteers primarily work in Escuela Francisco Javier Endada, the public primary school. The school has 130 pupils and there are 10 fulltime teachers.  Volunteers also teach in the secondary school Escuela Nacional Apuela and the community is very keen to
have adult classes too. 

Accommodation and food is provided by the Head Teacher of the primary school and her husband, who have
a restaurant/cabana establishment located less than 5 minutes walk from both schools.

Apart from teaching, volunteers may also want to get involved with gardening or painting programmes in
the school and possibly conservation work.

Interested? To find out about the next step to becoming a volunteer, read our application process.