Volunteering- United Planet

One month until I leave! Here is an introduction to the volunteering I'll be doing in Ecuador through United Planet

Since apparently studying abroad isn't enough of an adventure for me, I will be volunteering in Ecuador for 5 weeks before my Carpe Diem program begins. I am going through an organization called United Planet, which sends volunteers of all ages around the world. 

I will be spending time at an institution working with kids with hearing and visual disabilities. Hopefully I'll get to dabble in Braille and Ecuadorian Sign Language, while helping the kids with speech therapy. You can read a little bit more about this place here, at the very bottom of the page. I don't know much more than that, but I do know my heart is screaming at me to go.

Yes, screaming. I just feel so drawn to Ecuador because of this place. There are about 20 Spanish speaking countries, mas o menos, but I have decided that this is the one and only country that I need to visit. Ecuador is indeed pretty sweet, (volcanoes! Galapagos! equator!) but those aren't the things making me go. I feel such a tug on my heart to go to Ecuador, and this love started when I found United Planet.

While searching for speech clinics in Latin America to volunteer at, I came across opportunity through United Planet. I am aspiring to be a Speech Language Pathologist, which entails helping kids communicate to their full potential. With United Planet, I am hoping to get a little glimpse into the world of speech disorders and therapy while getting the chance to actually practice it. I will get to stay with a host family

For a while, I was planning on not even volunteering through UP, because I needed to get college credit. And yet the only study abroad programs that ever peaked my interest were ones in Ecuador. I eventually knew there was no way I could go anywhere but the equator, and so I started leaning towards Carpe Diem to study abroad. It wasn't until I had been accepted and determined to go with Carpe Diem that I seriously looked into volunteering with United Planet in addition to studying abroad. 

In sum, United Planet helped me to fall in love with Ecuador, and I already so grateful for that. I am so excited to have the opportunity to volunteer in the specific field I am passionate about, but that's not the determining factor in my excitement for South America.