Werner at the Primary School

Werner was our last volunteer at the Primary School in Montanita, and he has taken the job head on. Working with hundereds of students from 7 to 16 years old is definately a challenge, but Werner has conquered the hearts of the kids and been teaching English for 5 weeks.

A few weeks ago was the big Defile in Montanita. Kids representing schools from all the nearby
pueblos came together in Montañita for a big parade. Obviously, Werner walked with his class, and we all came out to cheer him on.

Thank you Werner for all your hard work. The kids already miss you! And good luck to Dushka, who just started volunteering this week. We're so proud!

If you are interested in volunteering at the Primary School, like Werner, or with any other of our fantastic non-profit partners, contact me, April, at info@montanitaspanishschool.com. It's not just about traveling and learning Spanish. Get involved, be a part of something!

Vilhelm at the Acuario

Vilhelm had been taking Spanish with us for several weeks before he decided to throw himself into a new project at the Aquarium in Vadivia, a little village 20 minutes from Montañita with the only coastal Aquarium in Ecuador. Since then he has been helping feed the animals, and then in the afternoons he works with the children in the Aquarium's ecological kids'club, playing games and soccer, working on environmental projects and teaching English and yoga.

Vilhelm meets the Ecological Kids Club children

¡Pengüinos!

This crazy pelican wouldn't leave Vilhelm alone while he was trying to feed the sea turtles. I guess he decided to give him some of the fish so that she'd leave him alone

Lobo, the cubby sealion, getting his lunch fom one of the girls in the Ecological Kids Club.

If you are interested in volunteering at Acuario Valdivia like Vilhelm, or any of other great volunteer projects, contact us at the Montañita Spanish School at info@montanitaspanishschool.com or check out our website at montanitaspanishschool.com.

The the guys at the Aquarim are always looking for an extra set of hands, and the kids love when new people come in to work with them and teach them something new. Be creative and make a difference!

Pool Day with Ecological Kids Club

The Ecological Kids Club is a group of awesome and adorable kids from the little village of Valdivia. After school, they go to the Aquarium in Valdivia to learn about the animals, volunteer as tour guides, and work on projects in the community. They have been working hard cleaning the beaches and giving tours to keep up with the tourism "high season." We figured they deserved a day of fun!

Fifteen kids and Javier, the Biologist that runs the Aquarium and the kids program, all came to join us at the Montañita Cabañas to play in the pool and get to know some of the students.

A few hours later, the kids were exhausted... ok, well maybe I was the only one, but keeping up with 15 energetic kids is tough!

As when you put any group of kids in a pool, Chicken Wars are essential. I tended to lose :(

Thanks to Javier and all the kids for an amazing day!