La Costa Ecuador, Amazing Program

The province of Manabi where la Costa Program mainly takes place has been hit by El Nino natural phenomenon in 2008, which affected the communities greatly. El Nino produced massive rainfalls and this led to landslides due to the deforestation that had being going on for decades. Many community-based environmental organizations formed and reforestation initiatives arose. In 2016 the province also suffered from an earthquake and since then there were different movements to support natural construction with bamboo, for being earthquake resistance and sustainable, as well as typical from the area. This context makes this region a great place to learn about climate change, and how communities overcome natural disasters.
At this project volunteers stay in a permaculture farm, and visit 2 other farms. With all of these experiences, volunteers get exposed to permaculture, organic agriculture, sustainable cattle ranching, natural construction and so on.
In this program volunteers interact and work hand in hand with several youth led organizations that are working towards various environmental initiatives, such as beach clean ups, turtle conservation, the study of the tropical dry forest, etc.
We also get to do a lot of fun stuff like chocolate making, handicrafts, salsa dancing and nice hikes
We ended this trip with a renewed sense of possibility…possibility to live an alternative lifestyle that is in harmony with nature, and therefore can assure our own survival through generations.