Environmental Educator – Volunteer Opportunity in Rural Ecuador

Experienced environmental educator needed to design and implement modules of curriculum for environmental education as part of the Andean Bear Project’s community awareness work.  We would like to develop a collection of learning modules that can be implemented by future volunteers and/or local teachers.  We’re looking for creativity and fun – workbooks, games, music, drama?  There is also scope to include simple messages for the children about nutrition, cleaning your teeth, etc. – this is an area of rural poverty, and malnutrition and dental problems are common. If you can train local teachers to use the materials as well, that would be even better.

You’ll be based in northern Ecuador in an area of beautiful cloud forests and mountains which are home to the Andean bear.  You need to speak at least intermediate Spanish.  Time commitment: 2 - 8 weeks.

Your volunteer work will strengthen relations between the Andean Bear Conservation Project and the local community.  You will be ensuring that the next generation grows up with an appreciation for the environment they live in and the importance of conserving the cloud forest with all its biodiversity, from tiny insects to the large, gentle Andean (spectacled) bears.

For more information and to apply, first see www.andeanbear.org to learn more about the project, then write to bearsecuador@yahoo.co.uk, quoting reference SDEnvAug10.