Ecuador - Teaching in Oyacachi

Located in the province of Napo, within the Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve, on the eastern slope of the northern Andes (3100m), Oyacachi is less than 3 hours east of Quito.

It is famous for its local fresh cheese production, hot thermal baths, woodcrafts and hiking - It is the starting point for a very difficult 2-3 day walk down to El Chaco, which is located further east in the upper Amazon basin.  The surrounding lakes and mountainous terrain are hidden jewels, as few guidebooks cover this area.

The people in and around Oyacachi are very friendly and most of them speak Quichua as a first language and Spanish as a second, so you may end up learning just as much Quichua as Spanish!

Volunteers teach in the Escuela Padre Rafael Ferrer, which has 50 pupils and just 4 fulltime teachers.  In addition to teaching, volunteers could help the ‘Artes Secretas Oyacachi’ (a grass-root Artisans’ Association) or get involved in eco-tourism projects with the ‘Oyacachi Reserva Ecologica’ thermal baths.  There is real potential in the future for independent business development projects, here in Oyacachi.

Accommodation and food provided by a friendly young couple who live in a new (and quite large) traditional wooden house that is less than 10 minutes walk to the primary school and have two lovely young children of 9 & 2.

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