COMMUNITY WORK

The organization
Arutam Rainforest Reserve is a community based NGO with its head office in the Pastaza province of Ecuador in the small Shuar community Arutam. The community is surrounded by the Arutam Rainforest Reserve and together with Arutam Rainforest Reserve and the women group Kurinua; we offer variety of tourist, volunteer and research opportunities as well as working directly with community development.

General description of the project 
Arutam is a small Shuar community of 40 members. The community owns approximately 3500 hectares of tropical rainforest, of which 2710 hectares are set aside for the Arutam Rainforest Reserve. The remaining part of the forest is occupied by subsistence farming and housing for the community members. Arutam have been engaged in conservation and tourism for almost a decade, resulting in the creation of Arutam Rainforest Reserve in 2000. The community began working with volunteers at the end of 2003, and since then, volunteers from all over the world have visited Arutam.

What will you do?
The volunteers with Arutam Rainforest Reserve can participate in a series of ongoing projects:
- Experience the Shuar culture, take forest walks and learn about plants and animals or visit other communities and interesting sites.
- Help teaching English or any other subject in the local school.
- Helping in the traditional farming, the cultivation of cassava, plantain, yam, sweet potatoes, taro, pineapples and other subsistence crops in the traditional gardens, ‘ajaa’.
- Help in the construction and maintenance of infrastructure for tourists, volunteers or the women group, KURINUA, or help make trails for tourists in the reserve.
- Learn how to make traditional Shuar crafts and help marketing the crafts.
- Help improve and maintain the fish ponds.
- Helping in the forest nursery is also an essential part of the work. The plants produced in the nursery will be used in the reforestation with mahogany and other valuable timber and fruit trees.
- Learn about the Shuar culture and language, participate in sports and other community activities as well as getting to know the reserve.
- Join forest walks or visits to other communities, where you will learn about the animals, birds, plants and Shuar culture and legends.

Arutam Rainforest Reserve encourages volunteers to carry out their own projects or research. The projects must be self-financed, but assistance is provided by the community. Volunteers who want to carry out their own projects must mail Ecole a description of their project.

Basic information:
Accommodation:         Basis lodging
Minimum time:            1 week
Spanish:                     Average - good
Working hours:          Depends on your activities, but it will not be more than 8 hours a day

This project is located in the jungle about 1, 5 hours in canoe from the jungle town Misahuallí (7 hours drive from Quito). Santa Barbara is a community of indigenous people, this is the community where you will be working. Close to the community is a basis but nice jungle camp, called Ecoselva. There is one big hut where you will sleep on a mattress, covered by a mosquito net on a platform without walls!

Furthermore there is a comedor (eating area), kitchen and an area with hammocks where you can relax. You will stay in this camp from Monday to Friday. On Monday morning you will travel to the camp by canoe and on Friday afternoon you go back by canoe to spend the weekend in Misahuallí or to visit Tena or Baños. During your stay in the camp you will be accompanied by a cook/guide who will take care of you and can help you with all questions that you have regarding your project. In Misahuallí the project is coordinated by Pepe and Margarita who also run the butterfly project. There are toilets, but no showers in the camp, but to take a bath you can always jump in the river!

From the camp it is about half an hour walk to the community of Santa Barbara. Your work schedule in the community depends a lot on what you want to do. During this project you need a lot of own initiative, but then it will be great!

What can you do as a volunteer at the Community of Santa Barbara?
- Teaching at the school in the community
- Playing with the little kids
- Helping with minga´s (every Tuesday the community comes together and works together on a project, can be planting seeds, making a hut, etc)
- Helping the families with anything they might need
- Helping at the jungle camp Ecoselva, by fixing the cabañas, keep it clean, etc
- Helping the cook in case there are tourists at the camp

During the weekends you can stay in the hostel of Margarita and Pepe at no extra costs or you can go traveling.

Please keep in mind that this is not an “easy” project, you will for example, be far away from telephone, Internet and the civilized world. Besides this the climate is very hard to work in and life in the community is very slow! It is however a project where you can do a lot when you use your own initiative.

Basic information:
Minimum:                    4 weeks
Spanish:                     Reasonable - good
Working hours:          8 hours per day, free in the weekends
Traveling time:           8 hours from Quito

Southeast of Quito you can find the jungle city of Tena. Situated 4 kilometers away from Tena is El Establo de Tomás, a jungle lodge run by Ecuadorian people. Around the Establo (which means ´stable´) you can find a few small houses, which make the village of Lupi. Around Lupi there are a few villages like Muyuna, Tazajacu and Atacapi. In those villages you will be working as a volunteer. You can help the communities and the schools.
Be aware that it can sometimes be very quiet at Establo de Tomás and that you can be the only ‘guest’, however, it is situated in a beautiful area. You can go hiking, rafting, kayaking, horse riding and swimming.

What can you do as a volunteer at Establo de Tomás?
- Teach (English) to the children from the schools or the other children in the villages
- Prepare your classes for the next day
- Come up with ideas for new projects about environment, food and health
- Smarten up the school building, by painting or fixing things
- Organize sport activities, music classes, theatre classes, etc

Basic information:
Minimum:                    4 weeks
Spanish:                     Reasonable - good
Working hours:          8 hours per day, free in the weekends
Traveling time:           6 hours from Quito