Community Partner since 1996.
There cannot be a holiday in Ecuador without there being a specific food that goes along with it. For Holy Week, it is an elaborate, rich, creamy soup packed full of grains. This deliciousness is called fanesca. Fanesca can be found in restaurants several weeks before Holy Week, but families get together to prepare it […]
Seventeen determined Medtronic employees joined a March team in Quito, Ecuador for a week of service and bonding. Pouring their hearts, skills, and strength into their assignments, the women helped paint the exterior of the two-story early childhood development center, tiled the dining room, and cared for the 80 children alongside the center’s teachers. The […]
It’s been 30 years since a group of dedicated and dynamic women in Calderón in Quito, Ecuador joined together to form the non-profit organization Fundación de Damas Calderonenses (FUNDAC is its acronym in Spanish) or Foundation of Ladies of Calderón. Their mission? To improve the lives of children from impoverished working families in the community […]
Team #172 to Ecuador had the opportunity to visit the home of a child served at an early childhood development center in Calderón, on the northeastern-most border of the sprawling capital city of Quito nestled high in the Andes Mountains. The two centers where Global Volunteers partners in Calderón are for disadvantaged families, and mainly […]
Global Volunteers Ecuador Country Manager Maggie Bjorklund writes about a very happy morning at the early childhood development center in Quito where Global Volunteers has partnered for almost two decades – when the gleeful children played at a water table the center was gifted. Over the years, I have been lucky to witness many joyous […]
Melissa, an attorney and mother of four boys aged nine to twelve, from Austin, Texas, was seeking a volunteer opportunity for two of her sons to give them hands-on experience with children and increase their global awareness. She decided on Global Volunteers’ Ecuador service program, where her boys could help take care of very young […]
Volunteering gives you the chance to be a part of something bigger than yourself, find purpose, and use your civic responsibility for the greater good. On a Global Volunteers service program, you can provide hands on help to communities in need around the world. Without the help of volunteers, our partner communities would struggle to […]
Holy Week in Ecuador Holy Week in Ecuador is one of the most colorful times of the year. The processions on Good Friday are one of the greatest demonstrations of Catholic faith. The Good Friday procession in Quito is named Jesús del Gran Poder (Jesus of Great Power) and is said to be one of the largest […]
Meet Your Guide to Volunteering While You Travel in Ecuador Having joined the Global Volunteers team in 2011, Maggie Bjorklund is our Ecuador and Costa Rica Country Manager. She manages all aspects of those two programs and leads all teams in those countries. Maggie lives in Quito, Ecuador and travels to Costa Rica each time […]
Powerful reflections written by volunteers while serving at a daycare and after visiting a family in their home in Calderón, Ecuador. They write about the relationships they formed while volunteering with children in Ecuador. Volunteering with Children in Ecuador I find that I am truly able to lose myself in the needs of the children […]