Yanapuma Foundation is a
non-profit organization, registered in Ecuador under the Ministry of
Social Welfare. Our aim is to promote sustainable practices in
indigenous, rural and urban communities throughout Ecuador. We fund our
activities from our Spanish School, which donates 100% of its profits to
the foundation, and the money we receive from volunteers. In addition we
seek funding for materials and costs associated with specific projects.
There are many volunteer organizations,
many of which charge large sums of money to volunteer, and there are a
few others that charge very little. We aim to be as reasonably priced as
possible, yet also strive to offer a guaranteed service to the
volunteer. Talking to volunteers over the last couple of years who have
volunteered with a wide array of organizations worldwide has given us the insights to understand how to provide
this service to our volunteers.
We have talked, for instance, to a
couple who paid a lot of money to a seemingly reputable organization,
who ended up working on their own digging a swimming pool in the back
yard of the local director who had co-opted the volunteer program of a
small community for his own ends. Having paid the money and set aside
the vacation time to work to make a difference, this was a
devastating experience for the couple, and threatened to cut short their
entire vacation because they did not have the funds to cover the extra
weeks costs outside the program they had signed up for. This is a fairly
extreme example, but reflects something of the difficulty faced by the
prospective volunteer trying to choose where to volunteer before they
arrive in Ecuador.
In addition, there is a significant
difference between the very goal-oriented and driven culture from which
most volunteers come and the more loosely structured and less time-bound
approach typical in most indigenous communities. Which means that
even with the greatest of planning and forethought, the experience can
be frustrating for volunteers anxious to achieve concrete results.
At Yanapuma, we are well aware of the
responsibility that we have to both sides:
- to the
community in making sure that we achieve the goals we set with them
and provide them with the outside help that they need
- to the
volunteer in ensuring that they arrive to find a well-organized
project and a welcome place in which to contribute meaningfully.
To achieve both these goals, Yanapuma
staff keep regular contact with the communities that we work with, and
monitor progress of each project continually. We will travel to the
community on behalf of the volunteer to set up long-term and group
projects and to ensure that all relevant materials are on site and that
the community is prepared for their arrival. We regularly monitor the
Cultural Exchange programs as part of the overall goal of contributing
to the development of each community, and solicit feedback from visitors
about their experiences in order to ensure that the programs are running
well.
Thus, at Yanapuma Foundation we
strive to guarantee our volunteers and visitors a rich and rewarding
experience, conscious of our responsibilities to both the volunteer and
to the community, and at the same time, working to cover the costs
associated with our activities as a non-profit organization. We hope you
will support us in our efforts to improve the lives and futures of the
communities that we work with.
For more help in making your decision
try this page from the International Volunteer Programs Association: http://www.volunteerinternational.org/index-mih2.htm
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