NGO Taxi

I chose this project because I thought that Ecuador would be a great change to my regular cold and mountainous atmosphere. But what appealed to me about this project was how well it aligned with my interests. This project is the perfect opportunity to combine important, local conservation work and my university studies while being able to have a unique cultural exchange. I feel extremely lucky that I was able to find this project on such short notice. NGO Taxi was extremely efficient and communicative in the application and placement process even with us being on two different continents. What I love most about this project is the variety of work you get to do. The other volunteers and I do all kinds of work with the Ministry of the Environment. Just a few of the things that we do are feeding penguins, building Sea Turtle egg enclosures, rehabilitating animals brought into the facility, and cleaning up plastic and other trash from different beaches. It definitely never gets boring. Every day is something different and keeps it fun and interesting no matter how long you are volunteering for. I also find that I’ve been learning a lot more than I was expecting. It’s not just us coming in and doing a bunch of work and leaving. I really get to interact with the different people that work there or even visitors. It’s the perfect opportunity to network, spread the project’s message and work on my Spanish language skills. Plus, they are really invested in teaching you why you are doing every little job or task. They want you to leave the project with more knowledge and personal growth than when you came in. Overall, not only is my project with NGO Taxi a great chance for professional growth, it has given me the platform to pursue work I am passionate about.

My name is Stella, I am 18 years old, and I was an intern at NGO Taxi for the past 3 months. After school, it was clear to me that I would do a gap year before studying at a University to see the world and to use this time to orientate myself. I didn't want to travel only from place to place, but I wanted to emerge into another country’s culture and way of living. When I read the description of the internship in Cuzco it matched exactly what I had imagined in my mind: be in one of the most beautiful cities of South America, in a country that has a lot of historical and cultural background and to be able to contribute a social act to society while at the same time learning so many new things about organization, marketing and communication.
I have to say that I really enjoyed my time in Cuzco because there are so many places in the area to explore and there is always a change of people in the HQ apartment. Although I only had one week of Spanish class because I already knew how to speak Spanish, I think that it is well organized and the teacher does a great job. Besides the classes she invited us plenty of times to show us how Pisco sour is made, to Salsa classes, to share typical food together or to go to a poor hospital and give the people sandwiches and hot chocolate.
As an intern I learned a lot about how an NGO works and about marketing strategies. In addition, another volunteer and me developed a new sport project . As you can manage your time individually you have the freedom to work whenever you want as long as you finish all the expected tasks. At first, I found it strange that we had no own office, but in the end I loved to sit in one of the cute cafés in San Blas and work from there, and I was happy to have time to do sports, paint in my sketchbook and learn for the TOEFL test in my free time.

You will stay at the project manager's house, who is running the project and own's the property surrounding it. The house has two floors. One for Cesar and one for the volunteers but you do share one tiny bathroom. After breakfast with the project manager, you will by times have to walk the 20 minutes to the project side but usually the manager offers you a lift on his motorbike (or even lets you drive yourself). For lunch, when it is the hottest, you will return to the village and rest a bit before you return to the project until the sun sets.

Getting there around 8-9pm you will first be occupied with welcoming the tourist groups and informing them about the project and the animals (their story, their characteristics and their role in the ecosystem etc.). But no worries-- the project manager knows a great deal and most of the information is already written down for you. Personally, I enjoyed this the most and if you're outgoing, interested in improving your English and meeting people from all over the globe I'm sure you will too. When there is no group to guide you will help the project manager with improving or maintaining the project side, care for the animals or sometimes just explore the forest how you please. Really, how much and how hard you'll work depends on the season you're coming but more importantly on your willingness. But trust me, the more initiative you're showing, the more you will enjoy being able to see the project improving.

I will stop here since this is getting quite long but if you'd like to hear more feel free to contact me and I will gladly give you some more insights.

Best regards, Quirin Forster