College Students Travel Abroad with Eco Surf Volunteer EffortNovember 11, 2009With the Fall season upon university campuses across North America, Summer Break is a distant memory for most students. The thought of warm weather and exotic summer travels have been replaced with changing October foliage and a sense of the onset of the holiday season.
But for some adventurous students, the image of white sand beaches, coconut palm trees and warm tropical ocean live on.
Last August, 25 university-aged students took advantage of an opportunity to travel abroad by joining an on-going volunteer effort with Eco Surf Volunteers (www.ecosurfvolunteers.org) in the historic beach town of Canoa, Ecuador.
To these students, the idea of merely visiting an international travel destination was not an option. These student's desired a deeper sense of adventure, one that would immerse them completely in Ecuadorian life, the Spanish language, and the exotic South American beach culture.
As a participant with Eco Surf, each student-volunteer spent half their day working with local children by teaching English in an English Through Art program, helping in local medical clinics, and building new playground equipment from recycled and natural resources. The second half of their day was spent surfing with local Ecuadorian surf guides, all peers their own age. Volunteer team members not familiar with surfing were offered two hour surf lessons each day.
Additionally, Eco Surf donated three new laptop computers to the community, effectively establishing the first academic computer lab in the village.
Eco Surf is in the process of establishing a foundation, Alma de Canoa, to be operated entirely by native Ecuadorians. According to Eco Surf Volunteers Founder Sam Bailey, "The goal of Alma de Canoa is to create opportunities for Ecuadorian high school students to take ownership in developing innovative sustainable-tourism projects within their own community."
Future volunteer projects are scheduled for January 2-10, March 20-28, and July 31-August 9, 2010. For more information about Eco Surf Volunteers, visit www.EcoSurfVolunteers.org or email info@ecosurfvolunteers.org.
