Development Internships in Ecuador

Broaden your horizons and explore a new culture by interning abroad with Adelante Abroad. Live and learn in an international setting while gaining hands-on experience in your chosen field. Join us this spring or summer in one of our vibrant program locations—Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Spain, or Uruguay—where you'll enjoy ideal weather, smaller crowds, and access to top-tier internship placements. Choose from affordable, career-focused internships in diverse fields such as Arts, Culinary, Travel and Tourism, International Business, Nonprofit, Information Technology, and many more. Internship opportunities vary by location and offer a high degree of flexibility. Start your internship on the first Monday of any month, and depending on the destination, stay for 1 to 6 months. With over 20 years of experience, Adelante Abroad offers well-structured programs and strong local support to help students and recent graduates step confidently into global professional environments. All you need to do is take the leap.

This program is specifically interested in allowing volunteers to assist teachers working with preschoolers or teaching English to elementary and high school students. Volunteers are involved in playing education games and facilitating learning activities, as well as planning English lessons to ensure kids get the best possible education. Volunteers are expected to have a basic level of Spanish, allowing them to improve their speaking skills throughout the program as well as to effectively communicate with the children and teachers around them. Cultural exchange continues for volunteers who choose to stay with a host family, as they learn to live like a local. They also have the daily choice of restaurant for lunch, allowing them to sample the cuisine of the island.

Join this hands-on internship and help low-income Indigenous communities revive ancestral building techniques to create sustainable housing for all. THE CHALLENGE Before the construction of industrialization, Andean communities built with rich clay soils. Globalization shifted practices to single-skin concrete buildings—faster and “modern,” but colder, costlier, less ecological, and more earthquake-prone. Hundreds of adobe homes now lie in ruin, and as these traditional methods vanish, so does their cultural and architectural heritage. THE SOLUTION We’re helping restore these buildings to preserve heritage and provide future benefits, from dignified homes to income through tourism. With support from our experienced team, join a design or build project to learn how adobe houses are made in the Andes and help restore those that might otherwise collapse. OUR METHODOLOGY Our internships use Design Thinking to co-create solutions with local partners. You’ll learn to observe, ideate, and prototype in real contexts, building skills while driving sustainable change. On weekends—or before and after your stay—you can explore Ecuador, from the Amazon to the Galápagos.

At Roots, we believe valuable learning and making an impact can go hand-in-hand. That's why we offer academic internships with grassroots organizations around the world. As an intern, you'll have a unique work experience that will inspire you, enhance your career, and allow you to gain insight into grassroots development work. At the same time, you'll contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Join an internship that truly matters for you and the world! The focus areas of our internships are wide-ranging: from female empowerment and early childhood development to wildlife conservation and food security. No matter your degree or career focus, we'll be able to find you an internship that matches your interests and requirements. Our internships are based across Africa, Latin America, Europe, and Asia with year-round remote, in-person, and hybrid placements. What we'll offer you: - Careful matchmaking - Assistance with traveling (visas, flights, accommodation, etc.) - Supervision during your placement - Regular check-ins and troubleshooting - Career-driven opportunity Get in touch for a free internship consultation!

Ecuador is a great place to conduct a Spanish-speaking internship. One of our students traveled to the headwaters of the Amazon to work with a wildlife conservation organization. She helped treat injured wildlife and released animals back into the wild. Eco-tourism is another popular internship option. The country has some top-notch eco-lodges and tour companies. Go on tours and blog about your experiences on their websites. And then help the staff market the trips to local hotels and businesses. Our students enjoy excursions to Mindo, the birdwatching capital of the country, and to the Galapagos Islands where they can witness Darwin’s finches and turtles.

IES Abroad offers 140+ programs in more than 35 locations worldwide for undergraduate students. We're a little obsessed with study abroad, and not at all ashamed to admit it. We are a highly-charged force of study abroad enthusiasts. Every day we have the privilege of witnessing how study abroad changes our students' lives. That's the reason we do what we do: to provide once-in-a-lifetime educational adventures. Everything we do is about the IES Abroad student. Our goal is to provide personal support and guidance throughout your application and enrollment process. Whether it's housing or cultural events or field trips, our job is to make sure you have the most authentic study abroad experience possible. Study with us for a summer, semester, or year. No matter the term, our world-class faculty and courses will engage you as you discover new ways of learning both inside and outside the classroom. How will study abroad redefine you? We can't wait to find out.

Live in an Indigenous Amazonian community in the buffer zone of a protected forest and support conservation and reforestation efforts led by local stewards of the land. Most families manage their land in diverse zones: food and medicine, animals or fish ponds, timber species, and protected forest areas. Interns live with a Kichwa host family, where everyday life is closely tied to the chakra, a traditional forest-farm system that is deeply embedded in Kichwa culture. The chakra is the nucleus for maintaining and revitalizing ancestral knowledge, sustaining both people and the environment. Interns take part in activities such as seed collection, nursery maintenance, tree planting, soil improvement, and tree care, while also learning about traditional land-use systems and contributing to efforts that assess, map, or strengthen existing agroforestry models. This presents a unique opportunity for interns to understand the convergence of ancestral wisdom and climate change mitigation, exploring how these elements can harmonize to preserve cultures, support local economies, and counteract the impacts of climate change.

The Fair Trade Internship in the Mindo Cloud Forest is a unique combination of sustainable development and cultural/heritage preservation. You work with indigenous families who cultivate cocoa using traditional techniques while paying respect to environmental conditions. Intern activities generally fall within various business aspects, including marketing and customer service. The placement is with a women’s association that runs training programs for farmers. They ensure that products, such as pure and flavored chocolate, are put on the market for a fair price. This way, the local community is able to generate sustainable income. This internship is geared toward undergraduate and graduate students, and industry professionals. Your focus should be on entrepreneurship, international development, business, food engineering, tourism, or a related field. Team working skills and flexibility are required as well as a reasonable level of fitness. Proficiency in Spanish (level A2 User of CEFR) is required since you’re working alongside local people. Please bring a laptop to record your progress during the program.

Learn from and in the Amazon Rainforest—all while helping conserve and teach about sustainability! Join Manna Project International in this opportunity to preserve and grow sustainability and ecotourism in indigenous Kichwa communities in Ecuador's Amazon Rainforest. As an intern, you'll collaborate with local tourism entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, maintain and build trails, learn about local flora and fauna, conduct needs assessments, and develop educational materials for youth with the long-term goal of protecting and preserving the Amazon. This immersive experience enhances your language skills, builds your resume, and develops valuable project management and cross-cultural communication skills. Throughout the internship, you'll gain hands-on experience, make a real impact, and broaden your global perspective in a stunning environment. Example tasks: Collaborate with a Kichwa community to design and implement sustainability projects Conduct needs assessments Develop educational materials and conduct workshops Assist and support local farms, educational projects, trails, and beekeeping Assist in monitoring and evaluating ongoing programs

This internship program in Ecuador, South America, is designed for undergraduates and recent graduates with a background in social work. Have the opportunity to learn about sociocultural issues and gain practical experience in a variety of related fields. As an intern, you work directly in a wide range of social, public, or private institutions, including municipalities, NGOs, social centers, orphanages, schools, medical centers, communities, and agencies. Interact with people from different backgrounds and gain insight into the challenges they face. Among your daily activities and duties are providing counseling and training, completing administrative tasks, and leading mentoring programs. You also provide support to children, youth, and seniors.