Further Information
South American Explorer

Rainforest Expedition in the Ecuadorian Amazon - By joining this GVI wildlife conservation expedition to work alongside young people from various indigenous and colonist (settler) communities in 1,800 hectares of mostly primary rainforest, you will help to reduce the effects mankind has on the Ecuadorian rainforest. This field research and community education project aims to help students from local, agricultural and disadvantaged communities to build a sustainable source of income from ecotourism, conservation and sustainable agriculture. This provides an alternative to the highly destructive practices of forestry or petroleum production, increasing the conservation value of the area and enabling local capacity building for future management. The field research program involves creating species-lists of targeted animal groups, such as mammals, birds and amphibians, and determining the distribution and abundance of these groups.

Volunteer work with children in Ecuador - Please note: our education projects in Latin America are unique to Global Vision International. All funding of these projects comes directly from Global Vision International and volunteer contributions, included in the programme fee. We receive no other outside source of income, apart from that raised through GVI and volunteer contributions. Suffice to say, without this funding from GVI and the volunteer contributions, the projects simply would not exist.

The project is based in Otavalo, assisting the rural indigenous in 3 different communities. The Indigenous people of Otavalo and its surrounds represent 30% of the Ecuadorian demographic (the remainder being 50% mixed Spanish, 10% African Ecuadorian and 10% Other). The communities we work in are 100% indigenous and are very much removed from the influence of the western civilisation. The families are generally farmers, growing potatoes and maize and live very self sufficiently, eating their home grown food and raising pigs, cows and chickens to provide meat. They make money by selling their produce in the markets in Otavalo. The poverty level in our communities is extreme, however most of the houses in our communities have electricity now, and the children are no longer malnourished as we have been providing them with a quality balanced diet for over 3 years.

Volunteer in Peru - Each year, thousands of people migrate from the Sierra and the Altiplano to try to find work in Arequipa, though due to language barriers (they are Quechua-speaking as opposed to Spanish-speaking), cultural differences and illiteracy, they find it very hard to integrate themselves into local life. Therefore ‘pueblos jovenes’, or new villages or towns, are springing up outside Arequipa. They are a type of stepping stone from the Sierra to Arequipa. Most of the housing doesn’t have electricity, running water or other amenities, but with the $3 a day they earn from agriculture, they are slowly but surely building up a new life in these towns, learning Spanish and receiving education in the local schools.