Community tourism and environmental projects in an indigenous Tsa´chila community

El Poste, 40 minutes outside Santo Domingo  

El Poste is one of the 7 remaining indigenous Tsa´chila communities in Ecuador, and it is a community rich in tradition and culture, much of which is being lost in recent generations. This community of about 400 people is located in a dirt road about 40 minutes outside of Santo Domingo, where life is mainly based on agriculture. 8 years ago, an association comprised of 6 families from the community started a group working to rescue and preserve the Tsa´chila culture through community based tourism and education. They have built a cultural center to convey knowledge about their traditions and heritage, a vegetable garden and tree nursery to teach and learn about sustainable agriculture and forestry, and work to protect a 10 hectare reserve to conserve the rapidly disappearing rainforest and its wealth of medicinal plants

There are a variety of projects where volunteers can help:

• Work in the protected reserve in maintenance and improvements such as development and improvement of trails, building bridges, and making signs to guide tourists on hikes
• Work with the group of 6 families who make various types of handicrafts to help them find markets, promote their products, keep records, improve designs and expand production and promotion
• Work on reforestation and agriculture projects, such as planting local trees and working in the vegetable gardens. The community would also like to expand its growing of cacao (chocolate) plants and would like help from someone knowledgeable about this crop
• The community would like to build dry ecological toilets in the cultural center to save more water, and volunteers with knowledge on designs and constructions can help start this project
• Work in the community tourism project to help build more tourist and volunteer cabins, and improve promotion to get more business and visitors to learn about Tsáchilas culture
• The community is looking for a biologist or someone with knowledge of medicinal plants to help with a project of propagation of medicinal plants, as many original species are disappearing quickly.

One month, but three months is highly preferred to learn about the community and integrate into the daily life and projects they are doing

Intermediate is preferred to interact with the community, however there is an American Peace Corps volunteer there until April that can help a volunteer with less Spanish

variable

For some of the projects, a volunteer would need previous experience to be helpful (bridge building, ecological toilets, plant propagation); however, for others experience isn’t necessary (reforestation, agriculture, handicraft record keeping). Additionally, it would be very helpful if volunteers considered fundraising before coming to fund and provide materials for the projects the community would like to carry out