"Voluntourism"
Voluntourism is a new concept that describes a unique experience that is part work as a volunteer and part experience as a tourist. The volunteers – students, interns, researchers or tourists – help communities with useful projects (participating in work sessions, teaching English, constructing houses, etc.) while they live in Waorani communities for a short or long time, where they can experiment and learn more about the culture and everyday life of the Waorani. For many people this type of experience offers much more than any conventional tour.
AMWAE can help individuals or groups with the coordination of logistics, and the planning of a project and a “volunturismo” trip in one of the 32 Waorani communities in our territory.
Contact us to discuss opportunities for “voluntourism” in the Waorani territory.
AMWAE’s Experience
AMWAE has worked with both individuals and groups in different types of “voluntourism”. For example, in May of 2008, AMWAE collaborated with a group of students from Duke University in the state of North Carolina in the United States. The students stayed in Ecuador one month and worked in two Waorani communities, where they installed rain water catchment systems, transplanted chambira palms and constructed ecological toilets. While they were in the communities, the students trekked with the Waorani, observed animals, learned much about hunting and fishing and participated in everyday activities like the preparation of food.
Community Tourism
The jungle is our house, our home. It’s also the habitat of thousands of different plants and animals, including monkeys, tapirs, scarlet macaws and pink dolphins. The tropical rain forest of our territory is one of the most biodiverse in the world. We invite you to visit and explore our home. We would like to share our jungle and our unique culture.
Community tourism provides important alternative ways to visit our families and communities, different from conventional tours. We invite you to participate in the everyday life of Waorani families, as well as tourist activities like trekking and observing animals.
The Asociacion de Mujeres Waorani (the Association of Waorani Women) works with two Waorani communities, Tepapare and Meñepare, to offer and promote community tourism. We offer simple accommodations, in a large tent, in a school or in a house of one of our artisan partners. We invite you to prepare and eat typical food with us.
Because we don’t use a tourist agency, income from all our trips goes directly to Waorani communities.