Ecuator_voluntering in a NGO

Baños:

Great time overthere, nice climate (not too cold, not too hot, and.. no mosquitoes!).  Here one of the highest place of vacation for the Ecuadorians and tourists of other countries.  

I could enjoy some nice motocycle and rafting rides, saw for the first time of my life a volcanic eruption (with the lava exploding out, amazing), and of course many parties.. And as it was carnaval time, there were a lot of people in the street, mainly fighting at each other with water and other stuff…

I meet there a Belgian guy (Nico) and we decided to head together to Quito. (Nico used to work as a trainee in a NGO and was going back to the capital).

Latacunga

On the way to Quito we made a detour to the volcanic laguna of Latacunga: an amazing green water lake surrounded by the volcano crater.

Quito

 We finally arrived in Quito. As a trainee Nico gets a room in the office building of the NGO. He proposed me to sleep overnight there as they have got some extra beds and it was for me the opportunity to meet the boss of the organization.

I expressed my interest into working in such organization and after presenting my CV he proposed me to volunteer (but with food and bed paid by them) in a project in the coastal region of Manabi… which I accepted. The project is located in the village of Rocafuerte (pop: 5.000).  Aim of the project is to ensure a fair price to farmers when they come to sell their rice. The NGO is Ecuadorian and the fund for the project comes from the European Union. I find now myself in charge of the administration (accounting, controlling) and the commercial strategy, which I actually find quite interesting.

Nico is in Jipijapa for his project (1,5 hrs of bus from Rocafuerte) but we use to meet each WE to go to the beach (WE in Montañita) or last WE in Quito.

Montañita

Montañita is one of the most touristic cities in Ecuador (like Baños).  The beach is great, the night is hot with parties all the time; and I spent the days (Ok, the afternoon) into surfing… Only negative point:  I got stolen one night (the door of our room had been broken into) and lost my computer, cellphone, camera (the old one, happily)… I remained lucky as the thief couldn´t find my passport, credit card etc…

Rocafuerte

It is a small village in the middle of the Ecuadorian country side. To get an idea of it just look some of my pics. After work I often walk across the street, speak with some families, play some card tricks to kids and since last Monday I ve started playing soccer with some guys here.

Related album to the article:

http://latinamericaltobelli.over-blog.com/album-1589842.html