Volunteering in Maikiuants

In October 2026 I spent three weeks in Maikiuants with three friends, and I really value the experience. What I liked most was how deeply you can immerse yourself in community life if you want to. After the mingas, the community work days, there is always a meeting where current issues are discussed and decisions are made together with the community mayor. Of course it is most interesting if you understand the language, but even so it is lovely to be allowed to sit in and listen. It gives you a sense of how the community is organised.

The four of us spent most of our time working on a website. In between, we went into the forest, took part in two mingas and made a few smaller trips. If farming isn’t your thing, you can also help in the digital area, for example with filming or photography.

The experience is exciting whatever language you speak, but with some Spanish you get much more out of it, and it is so much nicer to talk to people directly – hardly anyone here speaks English. In our group, three people spoke very little Spanish and one a bit more, which was enough to translate for each other. Without those basics, a lot would probably have been lost.

We lived together with Jessica. She slept at our place and shared every meal with us. Although our accommodation was about half an hour from the village, this meant we always had someone we could ask anything, at any time. A really personal relationship grew out of it. Jessica was very open, and living with her was wonderful – a big thank you to her!

Everyone was incredibly friendly. Whenever we wanted to cook in the village, Marcos always let us use his kitchen. In general, almost anything can be arranged here somehow: if you have a problem or a wish, it helps to simply talk about it openly.

My tips for future volunteers: bring food for the first week – locally there are mainly plantains and yuca, and the small shops have little else, so buy anything special beforehand. Stay at least three weeks, so you really arrive, settle in and get to know the community. And learn some Spanish: even the basics make a big difference.

My time in Maikiuants was shaped by the slow, relaxed pace of life. What I particularly enjoyed was that not everything followed a fixed schedule. Instead, each day was allowed to unfold naturally, depending on how people felt, the weather and the tasks that needed doing.

After just a few days, the 30-minute walk to the community no longer bothered me, and we were often given a ride on a motorbike, which made the journey even more fun. The people in the community were incredibly welcoming, open and helpful. They showed me so many wonderful and interesting things, and I learned a great deal.

We were given lots of yuca, plantains and sweet bananas, and we were allowed to help with the harvest. Two members of the community spent the days with us and gradually showed us around: the forest, the community and the neighbouring communities. We quickly felt at home.

I also had a lot of freedom in my work. I could largely choose what I wanted to do and organise my tasks flexibly, so the work felt less like an obligation and more like a hobby I genuinely enjoyed.

My time in the community and at the jea was very valuable to me. I gained many new experiences, met interesting people and learned things that I will carry with me long after my stay has ended.

A few months ago we spent a month with the Shuar. It is a time I remember very fondly and an experience that was truly valuable. A 20-minute walk from the village where the Shuar live, we slept in a traditional house near the river, surrounded by beautiful, fascinating nature and the wonderful sounds of the rainforest.

Every morning we walked to the village to help with the agroforestry project. We learned a lot about plants and how to plant them, about ecological relationships and local challenges. Daily routines were relaxed, and sometimes we went deep into the rainforest to the waterfalls to learn about traditions and get an idea of the Shuar’s vast knowledge of the forest. I think what volunteers do there is probably always different and may be something other than what we did. Either way, we recommend staying at least 3 weeks to build a connection with the family, the children and the other people. Everything takes its time…

Many fantastic experiences are left unmentioned here, but if you are open to a simple, natural way of life and to cultural exchange, and you like the unexpected, you will definitely have a good experience.

Greetings to Nancy and Pinchu, Estrella, Kilian and Kirup, to Freddy, Numi and Julien!

Dino and Lotz