Program Reviews

The past 8 months, I worked in a daycare for children whose parents work on the street. The children are up to 15 years old and throughout the day, there are probably 50 of them to look after. It can be a very challenging project, because there are so many children, but most of the time, there are enough colleagues to work with.
In between mealtimes, they do homework, with which I can help, play or do activities with the educators and me (like English lessons, colouring pictures, ...). It's a project I would recommend to everyone who would like to work with children.
It's especially good because VASE has made the experience very easy. If I have a problem, I always have someone to go to for help. It doesn't matter if it's about the project, living in Ecuador in general, sickness or something personal. I really like the organization as a whole.

I am living in Ambato in a super great host family. During the weak I work with street children. I help them with their homework, and I help with preparing the lunch. Sometimes I visit the schools or families of the children. In the night I got gymnastics every day. I tried different sport clubs here and I love, that you can enter most of them every day. I love Ambato, it has everything I need. It is in the center of Ecuador. Because of that and also because it's very cheap, I travel a lot with other volunteers on the weekends.

Meanwhile, I have been living in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, for almost 8 months and work in one of the projects of Fundacion Vase. Here, I am currently working in a school for people with disabilities with art and music. I work 25 hours a week, where I spend most of my time with a class in a garden, learning about farming methods and raising rabbits and chickens. In my project, I have been able to meet so many great people and learn a lot about myself through them.
But besides the project, there is so much more that you can experience during a voluntary service: living in a host family, the many excursions with new friends that you make here, getting to know a new culture... and a new language.... and I would definitely recommend all of this to others. When you volunteer in another country, you learn so many new things and experience so many new things.
I can definitely recommend Vase for volunteering.
It is a good choice for all people who are looking for support during their stay in Ecuador. I am very happy with the work they do. I felt very safe and received good advice. Even though I haven't needed their help yet, I know I could count on them right away.

I would recommend to everyone to go to Ecaudor with VASE. 1. Ecuador is one of the most diverse countries in the world. You can climb mountains (Andes), see the wild amazon, and the chill and warm coast. 2. With VASE you have a perfect and trustfull partner at your side aboard. They will be always next to you and care for you well being. You will be never alone with problems, for example you got sick. 3. You will learn spanish and know the friendly culture of Ecuador. In my project I saw the sadly poverty of Ecuador, but also the smile in their faces, if someone pays attention on their problems.

I made a lot of knew experiences here. Of course not everything was easy in the begining especially the language and entering a new culture far from home. But with the help of the organisation and other nice people it was posible to adjust. Now I learned how to work with poeple with disabilities and that they are such lovlie and lovable people.
It was also nice to travel here because there are so many opoutunities and it's so ceap. The organisation always made shure that we are save. The community of vollunteers is great but it also makes it a bit difficult to get to know ecuadorians.

Of course the first time is a great change because you get in touch with a new culture, everything is exciting and sometimes it's also hard to adapt to a new system. But you can learn so much and find new ways to manage things. This makes it to a really great experience.
I work in a Highschool, the teachers give me a lot of freedom with the kids, so we can play games, sing songs or do different exercises in English. I really enjoy working with them and it makes me happy when I realize they are making progress in their english skills.

I have an amazing experience here in Ecuador. I live in Quito right now and work in a Casa familia, which is a house where children live that can’t live with their parents, because the have problems with alcohol or drugs, are abusive or don’t live anymore. In my work I help the children with homework or do other activities with them and I really enjoy it. Especially with VASE it’s great, because if you have a problem you can always go to them and they’ll help you. No matter if it’s a problem with your host family (if you live in one) or your project where you work.

I am working in two indigenous communities outside of Otavalo. In these communities I‘m teaching English and support the other teachers during other classes as well.

The advantage of my project is, that I live for three days a week with a host family in one of the communities. This way, I can experience their day to day life.
The other days I live together with other volunteers in an apartment in Otavalo, which allows me to not be as disconnected as in the community and travel the country on the weekends. This allows me to enjoy a part of everything.

Working in one of Vases educational projects, a small school in a suburb of quito, I have really learned a lot. Not only have I improved my spanish but I have also got to know a different teaching method and the culture of ecuador. In the school we celebrate all the different festivities and by talking to the children you learn more about differences inside of the families and how everyone lives so you get a better overall picture of ecuadors people. The school is full of nice and helpful people, as the kods are the number one priority.

Personally I can recommend the organization VASE. For all people that search for support during their stay in Ecuador, it’s a good choice. I’m happy with the work they are doing. I felt very safe and got good advice. Also the seminars were good, just sometimes not perfectly organized. But the preparation and the topic we talked about were really good for getting into a new environment and culture. They are trying to create a network, so volunteers in the whole country can get easily in contact with each other. Also when I had questions they answered me very fast.