Internships and Volunteer Programs in Ecuador and Peru

I would advise them to not be afraid to speak the language. For me, living with the host family forced me to speak Spanish because they didn't understand English. The same with the place I volunteered at. My language and communication skills improved exponentially just because of that. At the place I volunteered, I even translated for other students from the USA who didn't speak Spanish.

An average day for the place I volunteered at consisted of having breakfast with my host family. Then I walked to the clinic, where I usually arrived before the therapist. I would observe/assist in either the adult or pediatric occupational therapy facilities until a little after lunch time. Then I would go home for lunch and have the afternoon to complete paperwork. We had dinner together as a host family and talked or played games until bedtime. I did this 5 days a week. On Thursdays, all of the volunteers with this program met to discuss how their work was going. And on the weekends I traveled.

My biggest fear was not being able to communicate. It was and continues to be an absurd fear, but it's still there, and I know it happens for a lot of travelers. I was scared that my level of Spanish wasn't good enough and that the locals would make fun of me for it. This was never the case. My host family encouraged speaking and making mistakes and were always willing to correct me or listen to me talk around a word that I didn't know. The same thing happened in the clinic I worked in. Sometimes you have to dive into the unknown to realize that your fear was unnecessary.

I traveled to Ecuador 3 separate times, each with part of the trip organized by la Academia Latinoamericana. For the trip that I've been talking about, I was a volunteer. But for the other trips, the group of students I was with took Spanish classes at la Academia (these were also fantastic). On those trips, we spent time in the Amazon Jungle. That is by far my favorite place in Ecuador to visit.