Travel Award: Ecuador | EIL Intercultural Learning

Ecuador

One fully funded volunteering opportunity in Ecuador

Four weeks in Ecuador - the smallest country in the Andean highlands famous for its array of vibrant indigenous cultures, colonial architecture, volcanic landscapes, dense rain forest and friendly people.

Return flights from Ireland to Ecuador, plus insurance
Homestay with local family in Riobamba
4 Day Amazon Jungle Visit
Spanish language classes
Mountain trekking and horseback riding on Chimborazo
Join a group of American teenagers and their leader
Visit the Equator

Zoologico: A volunteer in Ecuador with Capuchin monkeys

Details
How to apply
Photos & Videos
Blogs
Terms & Conditions

Details

Age profile: 16 - 18 on 1st June 2010.

Travel dates: July 2010.

How to apply

To enter for an award you need to tell us…

“What you could bring to this experience and how you could benefit from participating in it”

You can do this by using any one of the following formats:

An essay of not more than 700 words;
A project format of not more than 8 A4 size pages combining pictures, clippings, art, drawings and writing in any combination you wish.

Each entry needs to be specific to the country you wish to apply for i.e. you cannot use the same entry for more than one country. You also need to complete a specific Travel Award Application Form. You will need to complete this task and forward it in hard copy with an application form to reach EIL by 5pm on March 26th 2010. Application forms are available from EIL. A selection committee will shortlist a number of entrants and these will be invited for interview in Dublin on a Saturday in mid April 2010. The winners will be announced in May 2010. The decisions of the adjudication panels will be final.

Photos & Videos

Photos:

Blogs

Blogs:

Gary's blog: Country Feedback

posted by: Gary Finnerty

on: 5 Aug 2009 - 1:05pm

Well today is E-Day plus 38 and my trip to Ecuador is over. I'm writing this from Amsterdam airport during my 4 free hours before my last flight to Dublin and I've got alot of emotions going on now. Obviously and naturally I'm happy to be heading home but my experience in Ecuador has been incredible and amazing, something I shall never forget and will always treasure.

Gary's Blog: Imitation of Life

posted by: Gary Finnerty

on: 29 Jul 2009 - 4:21pm

Today is E-Day plus 31 and I'm finding it hard to believe that I've been here for a month with only a week left. Today is also my last day here in Riobamba as after lunch I'm heading to Quito for a night before getting a flight tomorrow to the Amazon rainforest. You'd expect me to be happy and excited at the prospect of being in the Amazon (something I've always wanted to do) yet what I'm feeling at the moment is a sadness that I'm leaving my homestay.

Gary's blog: Fall On Me

posted by: Gary Finnerty

on: 24 Jul 2009 - 2:07am

Well it's E-Day plus 25 today and I'm having an incredible time in Ecuador. Last Sunday my group and our host families met up for a soccer match in the evening on these astro-turf pitches I've been playing at for the last couple of weeks and it was a brilliant night. Firstly we got the full size pitch and so many people came we actually had a full game with 11 on 11 with spectators also. It was a great laugh and there was a huge difference in skill levels so it made for a very entertaining match. It was the best soccer night I've had in Riobamba so far.

Gary's Blog: Half a World Away

posted by: Gary Finnerty

on: 19 Jul 2009 - 12:51am

So it's E-Day plus 20 today and I'm already past the half way mark with only 2 weeks left. I say only 2 weeks because last night my host family and I were talking about how time has just flown by here in Ecuador. I've already been with the family for two weeks with only one more to go which we all found a depressing thought. I have to say I'm really enjoying this homestay and to be honest I was expecting to quite as much as I have.

Gary's blog: Man on the Moon

posted by: Gary Finnerty

on: 13 Jul 2009 - 12:49am

So today is E-Day plus 14. Two weeks in and I'm having a great time here in Ecuador. I'm still waiting for culture shock to hit in but it hasn't really so far, I'm enjoying Ecuador too much.

Gary's blog: Nightswimming

posted by: Gary Finnerty

on: 7 Jul 2009 - 11:24pm

It's E-Day plus 10 today. Sounds like a long time but it's passed me by very quickly which is a bit scary but it reflects how good a time I'm having here. Picking up the story here from the last blog (sorry for the gap between them, wrote a blog 2 days ago but internet connection broke before I had fully finished and I lost it completely!) I joined up with the second group of Americans on the Thursday night as the group I was with have gone to the Galapogas islands. But the second group have also turned out to be a fantastic group.

Gary's blog: Supernatural superserious

posted by: Gary Finnerty

on: 2 Jul 2009 - 10:52pm

It's E-day plus 5 this evening and I'm trying to do this blog quickly as I'm in an internet cafe in Quito and will have to go catch our lift home soon. Monday night I joined up with the 28 strong group of Americans and have been staying with them in a hostel since. They're a great group, split into 2 groups of 14, full of friendly and sincere people, but they wouldn't be American without being loud sometimes! Since they're arrival my time is on a schedule and very group orientated with lots of team activities.

Gary's blog: Electrolite

posted by: Gary Finnerty

on: 29 Jun 2009 - 6:26pm

Buenos tardes!

Gary's Blog: The Great Beyond

posted by: Gary Finnerty

on: 26 Jun 2009 - 7:34pm

So it's the evening before E-day and I'm pretty much organised for tomorrow and all the travelling involved. The way I'm going is flying from Dublin to Amsterdam and then on to Ecuador with two stop-overs between Amsterdam and Quito. I'm very happy with the times as I've loads of time between connections so I've been lucky enough. Feeling excited and nervous at the same time about the trip.

Free Travel Opportunities

posted by: Kevin Hickey

on: 4 Mar 2009 - 6:19pm

Imagine the excitement of telling somebody who has never been on an aeroplane that their first flight will be to Japan, Ecuador or Mexico. Thanks to the EIL Travel Awards I have been able to do this a few times.

Testimonials:

Niamh Manning from Dublin volunteered with for 3 months in a care centre for disadvantaged children in Quito.

19 Jan 2009 - 8:48pm

My time spent in Ecuador is a time I will never forget, although sometimes I have to remind myself it wasn't all a dream, as it's so immensely different to life at home in Dublin. It opened my eyes to the vast poverty of the country, I got the opportunity to meet so many different people, I learnt Spanish and I think I really matured as a person!

Conor Trawinski, a student from Co. Mayo, volunteered at project working with street children in Quito, Ecuador.

19 Jan 2009 - 8:46pm

Sinsoluka (without glue) is the name of the project I am working with. It is an amazing project that deals with street children from 1 year olds to 25 years olds. Most of the children who are 8 years old or older inhale a type of industrial shoe glue so that they can numb the pain of their down trodden, miserable lives. We want to stop them using this drug and we are trying to give them a happier life in whatever way we can.

Laura Spring from Co Kerry spent three months in 2005-2006 working with a day care centre in Quito

19 Jan 2009 - 8:43pm

Having just graduated from UCC, I was ready for a new and very different experience, while also wanting to 'give a little back'. I was drawn by the culture and diversity of South America and I had a desire to learn Spanish, but choosing an individual country was a bit more difficult. Eventually, I decided on Ecuador, as it seemed a country of great beauty but also one with many problems, and somewhere that the small contribution I could make would be felt.

Terms & Conditions

Applications should only be made with the full permission of the young person involved
Shortlisting may take place and interviews will take place pror to final selection
Each successful applicant must complete all necessary supplementary application forms as required by EIL (including parental/guardian permissions if under 18)
Selected applicants forfeit their place on the programme should he/she not be able to fully participate on the programme on all the dates as specified
Young people will need to demonstrate an appropriate level of maturity and responsibility in order to participante
All persons making nominations and all the young applicants agree to accept the decision of the EIL adjudication panel as final.