Ecuador Volunteer Programs from $21/day | Most Affordable & Trusted

Can’t speak for the Quito program, but Santa Elena was incredible. It is in a small village, Ballenita, located right on the seashore. The local nonprofit has a nice apartment like building that has their office and the residences. A nice courtyard provides a great meeting place for volunteers. The school is mere blocks away and students live in the neighborhood, and call out “hello teacher” as you walk around town. The school is a bit chaotic, but it felt easy to slide right in and teach. I feel their resources are few so you’re really appreciated by the teachers and students.

I was in Quito, Ecuador teaching for their Music Project for nine weeks. It was such an amazing and eye-opening experience. This was my first time out of my country, and IVHQ made it so manageable and comfortable for me! I loved it so much that I am going on another trip through them for teaching music this coming year! My favorite part of the entire trip was getting to meet all of the new people. You make so many connections you would not think of. I have made new best friends that I know I will keep for a lifetime. I highly recommend going through them for your future international travels!

IVHQ only cares about the money and not the health and safety of its volunteers. I could probably write ten pages worth of major mistakes they made. If you're considering choosing the program in Quito I would strongly suggest you choose either a different location or a different company altogether. Before I arrived they had changed the curfew hours due to the younger volunteers breaking the rules and did not inform us. During my time there some of the younger volunteers had broke curfew again and had alcohol in their room and were never kicked out. Riots in Ecuador had broken out and our programs had been shut down temporarily. They never informed any of the new incoming volunteers before arriving. I decided to leave a week early while I was still able to reach the airport before the riots closed down the streets and since I was type one diabetic I did not want to be stuck for an unknown amount of time. The day after I left my fellow volunteer found out she had Covid and strep throat. She was taken to the hospital by one of the program directors and she left her there alone for hours. For days my friend had to rely on other volunteers to bring her food in water until she contacted Sammy and complained. The food itself was not enough either, if you got to the table last you would not have dinner or breakfast and the meals were very small, not even enough for a child. Since this is part of what we pay for I think it is ridiculous because we are told to only bring extra money for lunch. In the end, most volunteers had to leave early because of the riots and did not receive refunds. When I contacted Sammy about several issues she tried to blame it on my lack of knowledge about the country and that since I am from America I am very fortunate and do not realize how well I have it in my country. I am an international studies major and I am very well informed about developing countries which is why I chose to do NGO support in a South American country. Overall I am very disgusted with this company.

I volunteered with IVHQ for 4 weeks with the Kindergarten Program in Quito and it was definitely one of the best experiences I've had in my life. I absolutely loved the school that I volunteered at and the kids were all so sweet. Each day I came into the classroom, I was greeted with a huge group hug. I helped the teacher with passing out materials and snacks and keeping an eye on all of the kids. I think it is definitely helpful if you know some Spanish so you can understand what the children and teachers are saying to you. If you don't know a lot of Spanish, taking the Spanish classes through IVHQ is very helpful. I thought it was so cool that the Spanish teachers would take us on outings to learn more about Quito. I explored the Centro Historico, museums and an artisanal market with my teacher. The Volunteer House was nice and the breakfast and dinner they served were yummy. I felt very supported by IVHQ and the local Volunteer Connection Ecuador team throughout my journey. My biggest regret was not booking for a longer period of time to explore all that Ecuador has to offer.

My trip to Quito was one I will never forget, I am a teacher in the States and I really wanted to go out of the country and give back. I never could have imagined what I was walking in to. The kids and staff are wonderful and very appreciative of ever volunteer there. The community is awesome and the children are even better. All of these children deserve a chance to dream and have goals and I think by doing our part they can see they can do much more with their lives. I plan to do more things like this, but this trip I will never forget.

I volunteered for two weeks in Santa Elena, Ecuador with Volunteer Connection Ecuador (VCE), via IVHQ. My experience was definitely unique to say the least. The first week I was there, the President made a political decision which set the entire country in an uproar; resulting in nationwide protests, road closures and bus shutdowns. Feel free to look it up if you're interested. It was the removal of the subsidy for diesel fuel. I believe it's been resolved.

Nevertheless, being that Santa Elena is along the coast, which was away from the majority of the protests, I never felt unsafe. In fact, being from New York, I'm used to protests and people being upset over something a government official has done. So it didn't really phase me much. I mentioned this mainly to suggest that you research the political climate for anywhere you travel in the world, just to prepare yourself for what to possibly expect.

However, regarding my volunteer experience; it was great! I initially signed up for the Environmental Education project. But due to the buses being shut down, I couldn't go to that after the 1st two days. This actually turned out to be for the best, as my local program manager, Gina, was able to adapt quickly to finding alternate ways for us to serve the community. We ended up painting a mural for a local school, which turned into multiple people in the community asking us to do the same for other locations that the local kids used for either playing or learning. This ended up being a great way for us to serve the community, due to the direct impact it had. So many people were grateful for the work we did, that they even posted it in the community Whatsapp and Facebook pages. We'd be sitting in a local restaurant and people would come up to us to say thank you and say jokingly how we were now "famous" in the area.

Along with painting, we also did some beach cleanups. It's not until you're 5 large trash bags in, that you realize how much of a mess we humans make to our environments. I definitely recommend anyone to volunteer with IVHQ and taking a chance on Santa Elena, Ecuador. You'll spend on average $3.00 USD per meal, the people are friendly and beaches are really nice. If you go in the summer, June-Sept., you might even get to see turtles coming on shore to give birth. My advice is keep an open mind and be adaptable.

My name is Sophie and I’m from Canada (the French part!). I’m currently studying in psychology and I just finished volunteering in Quito, Ecuador, on the Shelter project. During the project I worked at the Albergue San Juan de Dios with the most amazing people in the world! They have the biggest hearts and they work so hard to help others in need; it was an honor for me to give them a hand. The opportunity to experience a different culture while still being able to give back to individuals who are in need, was something I could not pass up on. Seeing how some of them had a hard life made me more appreciative of the resources that are easily accessible to individuals such as myself. The experience overall was incredible and life changing. I loved every second and would volunteer again a million times. Ecuador feel like a second home to me now.

Ivhq was the first volunteer program I have done. I was nervous before I left, wasn't sure what to expect, and I was traveling alone. No matter how many questions I had before I landed in Ecuador, someone was there to help. Once I landed in Quito, everything was better than what I thought it would be. The staff was incredible and helped with everything. Any questions about the city, country, my program, anything, they were there to help. I worked for 5 weeks in a school helping to teach English. I adore those kids and wish I could have stayed longer. The country was amazing and it's a hidden gem that more people should learn about, such a Cotopaxi, the roses, making chocolate, city of Baños, exploring the Amazon... everything was amazing. Thank you IVHQ.