Earth to City's goal is to show people where their food and products come from from within the earth, and to bring more people into physical contact with the beauty of nature. We aim to accomplish this with a minimal amount of paperwork and application bureaucracy. We believe that the best way for people to get a lasting experience about farming, fishing and wildlife is for them to use their own hands to milk the cows, pluck the beans, fleece the sheep, etc.
Earth to City volunteers will be working side-by-side with members of an agriculture/wildlife-based community in the mountains, coast or jungle of Ecuador. In the mountains, you will milk cows, make cheese, plant organic fruits & vegetables, harvest, fleece sheep, gather wild mushrooms, cook, teach English to locals, and more; In the jungle, make jewelry out of seeds, take notes on wildlife during jungle patrols, tour petroleum extracting facilities, take part in jungle activities under guidance of members of the Cofan indigenous community; On the coast, fish, chop plantains, pull up yuca, trap crabs, harvest coconuts, make raw chocolate out of cacao, and more...
Volunteers must spend a minimum of 5 days going through a guided itinerary of hands-on agricultural/wildlife activities in pristine locations. If they decide after 5 days that they like the community and would like to stay on, they can arrange with community coordinators to live with a family and to work on one or multiple volunteer projects that interest them, such has helping to set up a sweater-making workshop; helping to implement a waste water system in the mountains; helping to market jewelry made out of coconut shells and other plant material; helping to make and sell shishkebabs; teaching English; or helping to monitor sea or jungle wildlife.
No farming/fishing/wildlife experience required, but we do ask for people in reasonably good physical shape who do not mind "roughing it" with modest accommodations in a foreign culture. Please let us know if you have expertise in specific areas of agriculture/wildlife so that we can put your skills to best use.
See http://www.earthtocity.org/pdfs/Itin-Mulalillo.pdf for sample 5-day mountain itinerary, and http://www.earthtocity.org/testimonials.php for testimonials from former volunteers
