Help, Learn & Discover is an organization offering educational programs in Ecuador, South America. We strive to offer a fulfilling life experience which combines volunteering with those less fortunate while learning about a specific academic area of interest, and discovering the paradise of different ecosystems that Ecuador has to offer.

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Overview

Help, Learn & Discover is an organization which offers a four week Volunteer Program in Ecuador, South America. This program is three-fold and provides students with the opportunity to Help those less fortunate, Learn about what it takes to develop a volunteer project abroad, and Discover the diversity of Ecuador during a tour of the country. This program comprises of two weeks of volunteer experience, one week of discovering Ecuador and a final week in your choice of either The Galapagos Islands or Machu Picchu.

Help

This program contains a volunteer component which enables students to offer help to communities in rural villages of Ecuador. Students fundraise in Canada and United States and then travel to Ecuador in the summer to participate in a specific large-scale volunteer project. This year approximately 150 students will travel to Ecuador over a five-month period and help finance and build homes for twenty underprivileged families.

Students work alongside local families and are able to watch the homes develop and become an integral part of the community.

Learn

Students will work with the guidance of their Group Leaders to fundraise prior to departing for Ecuador. This fundraised money will then be allocated toward the volunteer project in Ecuador. Once in Ecuador, student volunteers will spend two tiring but, extremely rewarding weeks working to build homes for underprivileged families of the community.

Student ideas and opinions are essential components for the development of the project. The donated homes will provide these families a better livelihood and give them a more hopeful and promising future. Students will have the opportunity to work alongside and build friendships with the families during the project and thus become integrated as part of the community.

Discover

To conclude this amazing journey, students will tour for 11 days through the jungle, rainforest, highlands and coastal beaches of Ecuador, enjoying many exhilarating activities including waterfall rappelling, tubing and surfing. In turn, students will discover more about themselves while learning all this beautiful and exciting country has to offer.

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Info Sessions

BRITISH COLUMBIA VANCOUVER	Monday, March 9th, 2015 SFU Harbour Centre 1510 Xerox Conference Room 5 -7 PM

ALBERTA CALGARY	Thursday, March 5th, 2015 KMB 131 6-8 PM

ALBERTA EDMONTON	Friday, March 6th, 2015 ED 177 5-7 PM

NOVA SCOTIA HALIFAX	Monday, March 2nd, 2015 Student Union Building Room 307 5-7 PM


OTTAWA ONTARIO	Wednesday, March 4th, 2015 Room 407, Morrisset Library 5:30-7:30 PM

Itinerary

Day 1 - Monday	Arrival of students to Quito
Day 2 - Tuesday	City Tour and welcome dinner
Day 3 - Wednesday	Volunteer
Day 4 - Thursday	Volunteer
Day 5 - Friday	Volunteer
Day 6 - Saturday	Mindo
Day 7 - Sunday	Mindo/Quito
Day 8 - Monday	Quito/Papallacta/Misahualli
Day 9 - Tuesday	Misahualli/Banos
Day 10 - Wednesday	Banos
Day 11 - Thursday	Banos/Volunteer
Day 12 - Friday	Volunteer
Day 13 - Saturday	Volunteer/Quilotoa
Day 14 - Sunday	Volunteer
Day 15 - Monday	Volunteer
Day 16 - Tuesday	Volunteer
Day 17 - Wednesday	Volunteer/Cotopaxi
Day 18 - Thursday	Canoa
Day 19 - Friday	Canoa
Day 20 - Saturday	Canoa/Quito
Day 21 - Sunday	Galapagos
Day 22 - Monday	Galapagos
Day 23 - Tuesday	Galapagos
Day 24 - Wednesday	Galapagos
Day 25 - Thursday	Galapagos
Day 26 - Friday	Galapagos/Quito
Day 27 - Saturday	Otavalo
Day 28 - Sunday	Departure

Program Dates

Acceptance for the program is competitive. Selection for admission is based upon review of an online application and interview. Approximately 60% of participants are selected during the early bird admission, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Trip Dates*

(Galapagos extra week included in each program)

Volunteer Program 1 May 4th to May 31st, 2015 (IF + MP or MP/BOL optional extra weeks)	Volunteer Program 3 August 3rd to August 30th, 2015 (MP or MP/BOL optional extra weeks)
Volunteer Program 2 July 7th to August 3rd, 2015 (MP or MP/BOL optional extra weeks)

*Machu Picchu = MP / Galapagos> = GP / Iguazu Falls = IF / Bolivia = BOL

Prices

Early Bird 28 Days: $ 2,950 (US Dollars)

General Admission 28 Days: $ 3,100 (US Dollars)

Early Bird 21 Days: $ 1,750 (US Dollars)

General Admission 21 Days: $ 1,950 (US Dollars)

Spot Reservation Deposit

The spot-reservation is a non-refundable and non-transferable deposit. This deposit secures your participation in the program. The remaining balance is due 15 days before departure.

Spot Reservation for Volunteer Program: $1,500 US

Your program of interest plus one extra week: $2,000 US

Your program of interest plus two extra weeks: $2,500 US

Price Includes

- Transportation: Round trip airfare from Quito to Puerto Ayora (Galapagos Islands). Land and water tranportation in the Galapagos.

- Meals: All breakfast and lunches. A goodbye dinner is also included in the package.

- Accomodation: All hotels and hostels are included in the tour package.

- Services: Bilingual guides and accommmodation.

- Activities: Entrance fees to selected educational museums, attractions, venues and scheduled outdoor recreational activities during the tour.

Price Does Not Include

- Airfare to South America
- Dinners
- Medical expenses
- Travel insurance
- Airline extra baggage fees
- Special flight arrangements

*Please refer to Galapagos and Machu Picchu extra weeks to verify what is not included in the package. This depends on your week of selection.

Note: Students are welcome to book their own fligths to and from Ecuador. In this case, the student agrees to arrange flight plans and understand that she/he may be required to travel independently. Ecuaexperience is not responsible for any complications that may arise with airlines