Arte del Mundo in Banos, Ecuador is a fantastic arts and literacy project for young kids. I arranged to stay with them for a month before leaving the UK and didn't regret a second of it.
The organization offers after school activities for young people in the town, along with cinema nights in their (newly renovated) theatre and English classes. The town of Banos has no cinema, theatre or public library and it was a pleasure seeing the joy in the locals faces when they were able to access a fun, creative learning space.
As a volunteer I 'worked' weekdays from around 2pm-6pm. Some nights we hosted movie nights selling popcorn or teaching English to local adults. We'd all have a meeting at 2pm and discuss the days activities, get on with our allocated cleaning duties and have the kids burst through the doors at 3.30pm after school. We'd read for an hour, a range of books for different abilities which greatly improved my Spanish!
After reading time we would do an activity centred around each days theme, be it science, team building or sports. It was challenging catering to different ages in another language and never quite knowing how many kids would turn up but we had a great team of volunteers and it was so rewarding.
Before leaving the UK I'd researched so many volunteer options, all of which were stupidly expensive and weren't really related to the type of work I want to do when I return. With Arte del Mundo all I paid for was my accomodation which aside from fundraising is their bread and butter. For a small fee I got a large room with space to unpack (!), free use of kitchen and washing machine, a TV room with unlimited DVDs and a lovely room mate. It was fantastic to slow down and be in one place for a while, getting to know fellow travelers from all over the world and some who'd stayed behind and set up something amazing. I made great friends and formed fantastic bonds with the children and Banos is a beautiful setting to sit back and relax for a while. (Check out my next post on how to spend a month in Banos!)
Rural outreach projects took us out in to the countryside to read and play with children whose only books are the bible and an encyclopedia, and coming home to games night and a bowl of popcorn can't be beat! In truth it really wasn't like working at all and I feel extremely lucky to have taken part in the project.
Please check them out if you're interested: www.artedelmundoecuador.com
The organization offers after school activities for young people in the town, along with cinema nights in their (newly renovated) theatre and English classes. The town of Banos has no cinema, theatre or public library and it was a pleasure seeing the joy in the locals faces when they were able to access a fun, creative learning space.
As a volunteer I 'worked' weekdays from around 2pm-6pm. Some nights we hosted movie nights selling popcorn or teaching English to local adults. We'd all have a meeting at 2pm and discuss the days activities, get on with our allocated cleaning duties and have the kids burst through the doors at 3.30pm after school. We'd read for an hour, a range of books for different abilities which greatly improved my Spanish!
After reading time we would do an activity centred around each days theme, be it science, team building or sports. It was challenging catering to different ages in another language and never quite knowing how many kids would turn up but we had a great team of volunteers and it was so rewarding.
Before leaving the UK I'd researched so many volunteer options, all of which were stupidly expensive and weren't really related to the type of work I want to do when I return. With Arte del Mundo all I paid for was my accomodation which aside from fundraising is their bread and butter. For a small fee I got a large room with space to unpack (!), free use of kitchen and washing machine, a TV room with unlimited DVDs and a lovely room mate. It was fantastic to slow down and be in one place for a while, getting to know fellow travelers from all over the world and some who'd stayed behind and set up something amazing. I made great friends and formed fantastic bonds with the children and Banos is a beautiful setting to sit back and relax for a while. (Check out my next post on how to spend a month in Banos!)
Rural outreach projects took us out in to the countryside to read and play with children whose only books are the bible and an encyclopedia, and coming home to games night and a bowl of popcorn can't be beat! In truth it really wasn't like working at all and I feel extremely lucky to have taken part in the project.
Please check them out if you're interested: www.artedelmundoecuador.com
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