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Community Work in Guamote
Guamote, has 96,1%, of poverty, 33% of illiteracy, 61.3% of overcrowding. There are 137 schools and colleges, with 190 teachers and they teach to 3478. The municipal government has implemented Computer Centers, but does not have teachers for its use, either to strengthen the knowledge in the area of agricultural which activity is normal in their parents and in the community. The state budget is not enough to cover the needs presented by Educational Centers, there are no lines to buildings, worse to give teachers needed in specialized areas. The communities where are located the schools have neither the resources needed to recruit teachers for these areas. The quality of education depends on the actions of the players and public institutions, they just have a basic instruction, ie the school, they work in agriculture and caring for animals, do not continue their studies, the only thing they have learned is to read and write. That is not education. At the present is required for competitive entities, to have knowledge of their own reality (Agriculture) and the great discoveries through science and technology (IT), the practice of experiments (laboratory), and easily understood inputs, new practices, etc (with English). If we add the provision of specialized teachers, for sure there will be no dropouts or migration, the field will produce better and further improve the quality of life of communities, and thereby reduce poverty

Program Description
The project is located in the province of Chimborazo, in the central highlands of Ecuador, and its aim is to support educational development in various community schools, close to Guamote.


Volunteer activities:
It requires a total of 4 volunteers to cover the area of computer science at these schools:
Teaching Computer Science in educational centers that have computers installed in their school, as well as teaching through computer training courses to people who have an interest in learning.
The work is by a weekly academic year (September 2008 - July 2009) according to the following schedule:

MONDAY TO WEDNESDAY
07h30 to 12h30 Theoretical Lessons

THURSDAY TO FRIDAY
07h30 to12h30 Practice Lessons

Volunteer Profile
It requires people who are:
• Technician in Computer science
• Technologist in computer science
• Computer Engineering Student

It’s required a very good level of Spanish, older than 20 years, with experience working with children and young people, volunteers have to have leadership, and to be enterprising and capable of handling groups of people, who love to live in the countryside, the adventure, not is essential comfort, and above all can be easily adapted to a new culture. People interested in making voluntary work in these communities, should be open to being part of the lifestyle and customs of Indians and peasants of their way to work, food and shelter.

Services Close to the Project:
In the home of volunteers there is a kitchen, all the utensils needed for cooking, electricity, drinking water, batteries health. Transport from Guamote until the schools in the different communities. In the area of the accommodation house there is coverage for cell phone. The nearest health center is located in the principal town "Guamote", which has supermarkets, pharmacies, Internet services, telephone booths, etc.

Accommodation
• The volunteer house is located in Guamote, the cosntrucción of this house is concrete, with electric light, television signal, hot water and tap water. Bathrooms are shared, as well as the rooms.
• The project will give food to the volunteers so they have to prepare their own food.

What does the Volunteer need to bring?
• Flashlight
• Sleeping bag
• Boots mountain
• Rain Jacket
• Towel
• Gel and Shampoo (ecological)
• High protection sun cream
• Caps, hats or similar
• Warm clothes
• Gloves and hat for the cold
• Basic kit (headache, diarrhea, altitude sickness)
• Camera
• Glasses for the sun

Duration
It requires minimum two months, so you can give continuity to the educational projects implemented by the Government of Ecuador.

Free Time
The volunteers have weekends free and during that time they can do the activities that they wish, they can be of character as a tourist visiting Lagoons Atilla, the Farm Totorillas, and the famous journey by train in "La Nariz del Diablo". The area permits to do a lot of hiking in the Andes, and meet other locations typical of the area.

Requirements
The basic requirement for this project is the domain of the Spanish language, the communities speak Kichwa among themselves and communicating with the volunteers is held in the Spanish language but in a very elementary level. For this reason, Spanish language is essential to teach and to interact on a daily basis with members of the community. Arriving in Quito all non-Spanish-speaking volunteers will have to pass a test in Spanish before going to the project.

COSTS:
Inscription Fee: 200 USD
Cost of Project: FREE!

If you are interested in this volunteer position please contact Francisco Pastor at info@ecuadorvolunteer.org or call ++ 593 2 2557749 or ++593 2 2226544 (Fax). You can also visit our webpage, http://www.ecuadorvolunteer.org