Agroecology & Community Farming Internship in Ecuador

I absolutely loved my stay at El Terreno. I had the opportunity to apply my passion of social entrepreneurship to craft a project with the incredible support of the El Terreno staff and mentors. I am so grateful for El Terreno as it has shaped my life trajectory and pushed me to become a better individual both personally and professionally!

What did you most enjoy about your experience? Everything! I loved getting involved with the community. I loved the days up at the school, getting to know the kids, chatting, playing, working on the garden together. I loved the days we spent walking around the land, identifying and mapping the ojos de agua. I loved all of the mingas. I loved being invited along to attend the meetings (even if I didn’t understand everything!). I loved being invited to join the disfile for carnaval with one of the families. I loved how much I learnt! From Sebastian, not only about various farming techniques, native plants and trees, how the water supply works etc but also about cultura andina, traditional methods, beliefs, medicines and how integral it is to the communities. I learned so much from Joshua and Karina about life in Ecuador in general - politics, culture, places! From the communities about life in the Andes. Seeing real progress. Although not complete, we planted in the garden and only had some parts left to finish. With the reforestation project, we mapped, observed whilst Sebastian coordinated where and when with the community and then planted in the minga! I loved the structure of the project. Daily check ins were great to get energised, feel appreciation, check in with each other and to stay up to date about what everyone else was up to. Delicious communal lunch was very much appreciated for the great food and social aspect also. Quilico is perfect. Comfortable, beautiful surroundings, sociable. Great recommendations for local walks - the Komoot link was great! List of things to do on days off. Joshua also shared lots of info of things happening around Guaranda.

Volunteering at El Terreno in Atandahua was a really great and meaningful experience. I joined a reforesting project, helping to give and plant trees to local communities. I learned a lot about how trees help bring back natural springs, and also improved my social and language skills. The volunteer team felt like a family, and the local people were super kind. El Terreno is a place where anyone can find a project that fits them, even without any experience. I really recommend it to anyone who wants to help and learn in a friendly and safe place.

After doing an internship of 6 weeks at El Terreno I can say without hesitation that I loved the experience. Joshua is open for the different goals and experiences people strive for, making it easy to create a well suited programme. It allowed me to develop myself in a new environment wherein I could learn new things as well as giving something back. Next to this more practical side, living with Joshua and the other interns was a really pleasant experience. The group activities we organised made the work / travelling experience nicely balanced, while on the other hand it was also possible to decide when to join these activities or not. Lastly the location, Atandahua itself is a rural quiet place which gives it a relaxing atmosphere. In the direct surroundings there is enough to do during the week and the central location allows for easy trips throughout Ecuador during the weekends.

One of the best parts of this experience was having the best of both worlds culturally: on one hand, you’re able to live in a less-touristy part of Ecuador and immerse yourself in Ecuadorian culture, but on the other hand, you don’t feel completely like a fish out of water. I enjoyed my time in the homestay practicing my Spanish and learning about Ecuadorian culture. I came as a sustainable agriculture intern and was able to implement a school garden. This was a fantastic introduction to locally-led sustainable development work. My internship involved interacting and collaborating with various stakeholders, from the teachers to the parents. I even got to teach one of the example lesson plans I created. By the end of internship, I felt that I had made a meaningful contribution. That said, six weeks was too short for me—I recommend coming here for a summer internship if you can. Joshua is very thoughtful of the volunteer's needs and able to personalize your experience to what you're looking to get out of this experience. The community of volunteers and interns has also found a special place in my heart. The people who end up coming to El Terreno have a mutual interest in reconnecting with nature or promoting cultural exchange and social transformation. Being here is a really good way to meet people from all ages who are on a somewhat similar wavelength. Additionally, the whole experience is enriched with visits to the local farms and entrepreneurial cooperatives that are off-the-beaten path. Whatever your reason for looking into El Terreno—everyone comes for different reasons—it turned out to be exactly what I was looking for. I'm very grateful the universe had led me there.

From the airport pickup to the program, I was taken directly to the location and the coordinator helped me settle into my accommodation in the middle of the night. The coordinator planned out my activities a few weeks in advance. With the assigned mentor I learnt the fundamentals of organic agriculture. This included the creation of an organic garden/farm from scratch, analysis of the soil, creation of organic fertilizers, insecticides and fungicides. In addition to this many other addition trips and site visits were organized to truly get a grasp of the the agricultural traditions of the Andes. The homestay accommodations were comfortable and had a great view of Chimborazo. Overall, this internship was an amazing experience and would recommend it to anyone looking for an authentic Andean experience to explore their passion for agriculture.

An Amazing Experience of Inter-Cultural Community and Collaboration - 10/10. I spent almost a month at El Terreno and couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Joshua and Karrina have dedicated themselves to creating a nascent community center that serves their small town of Atandahua and the nearby indigenous village of San Juan, as well as the volunteers that join them from all over the world. In my time there I helped to harvest corn and chochos, provide general maintenance to la Casa Comunal, teach First Aid and support other volunteers in their efforts to teach English, encourage the continued use of the Kichwa language in English the indigenous community and throw a party that celebrated El Terreno’s first few months and presented the community with its accomplishments thus far. I’m so grateful to have worked alongside the most genuine and open-hearted volunteers. Together we formed our own tiny community in the hills of the highlands and with the help of Joshua learned an immense amount from each other about traveling, growing and serving. Thank you, El Terreno :)