AMAZON Immerse yourself in an indigenous culture on a rainforest adventure

AMAZON Immerse yourself in an indigenous culture on a rainforest adventure

1. Getting to know a young community member 2. Free The Children co-founders Marc and Craig Kielburger 3. Exploring the rainforest

There is no other trip like a Me to We Trip. When we were young, we were both lucky enough to travel to South Asia to witness the lives of kids our age in developing communities. These journeys changed our lives and helped forge a path for our life choices. We know that a Me to We Trip to a Free The Children community will give participants the same kind of eye-opening and inspirational experience we were so fortunate to experience in our teens. A Me to We Trip is just the beginning of a journey to make a difference and we re here to support travellers every step of the way. Together, let s change the world! Craig Kielburger Co-Founder, Me to We Marc Kielburger Co-Founder, Me to We Why Me to We Trips? A Me to We Trip is the start of a life-long journey and is unlike any other volunteer travel program. Help leave a lasting legacy: Visit a Free The Children community and work side-by-side with locals on development projects that help remove the barriers to education. Connect with communities: Spend time with local community members and put real faces, names and stories to the impact of your volunteer work. Walk in the footsteps of locals: Experience the sights and sounds of a new culture, and have one-of-a-kind adventures led by expert local guides on a journey off the beaten path. Become a leader: Learn lifelong leadership skills through meaningful workshops built around issues in the country visited. Build confidence and the ability to motivate others, and get the tools to turn the trip experience into action at home. Our charity partner and best friend Me to We Trips support the work of our charity partner, Free The Children, giving travellers a unique opportunity to engage in activities that directly contribute to Free The Children s holistic and sustainable development model, Adopt a Village. Designed to meet the basic needs of all members of a community and eliminate the obstacles preventing children from accessing education, this model is made up of five core pillars: Education, Clean Water and Sanitation, Health, Alternative Income and Livelihood, and Agriculture and Food Security. Free The Children works closely with community members to develop holistic solutions that work and will have lasting impacts. Me to We Trips: AMAZON 2

3 Me to We Trips - Nicaragua 1. Having fun at school 2.Young community members sharing a laugh 3. A new clean water project 4. A grin from a young community member 5. A local family

Adopt a village in THE AMAZON In Ecuador, Free The Children works with communities in the Andes and Amazon regions. Adopt a Village projects in the Amazon focus on the Education and Clean Water and Sanitation pillars. On a Me to We Trip to the Amazon, a group s volunteer project may include schoolbuilding or working on a clean water system. Education Access to education in the Amazon is limited, and existing school buildings are often dilapidated and unsafe. Students are also forced to travel for hours on foot or by boat to get to school. Free The Children works with communities to build new classrooms and repair existing structures. Clean Water and Sanitation Access to clean water in the Amazon is limited due to unreliable water systems and a lack of wells, and community members are forced to use water from a polluted river for drinking and cleaning. Projects include clean water systems, latrines, hand-washing stations and sanitation education. Health Health projects in the Amazon will include programs to prevent tropical diseases. The goal is to work with existing health infrastructure to provide support and improvements. Alternative Income and Livelihood Programs in the Amazon will work to empower women and provide them with the tools to be economically independent. By focusing on traditional handicrafts and bringing them to market to sell, young women will earn an income, helping them continue their education past primary school. Agriculture and Food Security In the Amazon, poor infrastructure, deforestation and rising global food prices contribute to poorer crop production, lower nutritional value of food and fewer income-generating options. Projects will focus on crop diversification and introducing cash crops to augment family incomes. The students realized that it wasn t just about building a school, it was about the connections that they made. I really appreciate Free The Children s philosophy that this is not about charity; it s about relationship building and helping a community to help itself. Heather Coey, Educator, Reynolds Secondary School Me to We Trips: AMAZON 4

Trip Specifics Getting There Trip participants travel together to the city of Quito on group flights booked through Me to We. The trip facilitators will meet the group at the arrivals gate at the airport in Quito and accompany them to their accommodations. Where We Stay Groups spend their first and last nights at a hotel in Quito. We select hotels that are safe and frequented by Westerners, and regularly book at the same hotels. The rest of the trip will be spent at Minga Lodge, an eco-lodge owned and operated by Me to We. Participants always share rooms with one or more participants of the same gender, and males and females sleep in different areas. Educators stay in a separate room from students. All washrooms are Western-style and have sinks with running water, as well as showers available daily. Some rooms will have private washrooms, others will have shared facilities. All facilities are cleaned daily. What We Eat Participants will enjoy meals prepared with great care by our trusted local providers. Meals will include a mix of local and North American cuisine, including beans, rice, fish, salads, soups, fresh fruits, lasagna and pizza. Filtered drinking water will be readily available. Getting Around Groups will travel together by bus or boat. All drivers used by Me to We are the same trusted transportation providers we use for all of our trips. $ Language Learn Spanish Local staff speak both English and Spanish Climate Participants will experience warm weather with cooler evenings in Quito, and hot and humid temperatures during the day in the Amazon The average temperature in Quito is 18 C Currency The currency in Ecuador is the U.S. dollar (USD) We recommend that participants bring about $200 USD as spending money 5 Me to We Trips: AMAZON

1. The Minga Lodge 2. Time for dinner! 3. The local transportation 4. Arriving at the Minga Lodge with new friends

1. On a boat ride in the Amazon 2-3. Experiencing Amazonian culture

Itinerary and Trip Highlights Sample activities: Visit a cacao farm: Learn about an important source of local income. Groups will also get to do some chocolate tasting! Day in the Life: Step into the shoes of a local family for a day. Help them complete daily chores, and learn about their lives and the daily challenges faced by people in this region. Cooking class: Learn about traditional indigenous cooking from a local chef. Go on a jungle hike: Led by a local guide, explore the Amazon rainforest, one of the world s most bio-diverse ecosystems. A Typical Day: 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.: Breakfast. 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: Experience what a typical day is like for local communities. 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.: Lunchtime! 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.: Get to know the group better with a fun team-building activity. 2:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.: Volunteer on a Free The Children project. 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.: Head back to the accommodations for dinner. 7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.: Action planning! Get ready to make a difference at home. 8:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m: Free time read, relax and reflect on the day. You d get off the boat and see all the kids lined up at the shore waiting for you, with massive smiles on their faces. It was such hard work but we were happy doing it because you got to see the reaction from not just the kids, but the community itself. Kaira Ayer, Me to We Trip participant Me to We Trips: AMAZON 8

Safety: Our Top Priority Me to We has been facilitating volunteer trips overseas since 2002. Since then, we have taken more than 6,500 youth to Ecuador, Kenya/Tanzania, rural China, India, Ghana, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Arizona without incident. In Ecuador, our safety measures include: Me to We Trips abides by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs travel advisories and monitors these updates prior to and during travel. Canadian and American participants are registered with their respective embassy before departure to ensure accountability in case of emergency. For all other nationalities, Me to We strongly recommends participants register with their embassy before travel. Copies of all passports, medical and travel insurance, and emergency contact information are collected well in advance of the trip. Our extensive facilitator training program includes emergency evacuation protocols, standard operating procedures and crisis prevention/management. All facilitators are trained in first aid and carry a first-aid kit at all times. Local hospitals with Western medical standards are notified of our trips and prepared to handle any minor or major medical situations. All accommodations have a 24-hour security system. Participants are given an orientation to know where to find resources. All transportation is run by our trusted private transportation providers. All travel within Ecuador occurs under the guidance of our in-country team. All food is prepared by cooks who are trained in proper food preparation. During all building activities, participants are given thorough instructions on the use of equipment and wear protective gear at all times. Environmental Impacts At Me to We, we understand the impact of international travel on our planet and are committed to reducing our ecological footprint as much as possible. In all countries where we work, we run green initiatives that benefit local ecosystems. In the Amazon, this includes school environmental clubs, carbon offsetting for flights through tree planting, use of solar power and community wood lots. My daughter is already a mature individual, but when she came home from Ecuador I noticed that was definitely increased. She took back a greater appreciation for what she has, and how much I support her. I wouldn t hesitate to send her on another trip! Shayu Talbot, parent of Me to We Trip participant 9 Me to We Trips: AMAZON

1-3. Working hard and making new friends on the build site

Me to We Intl. Office 225 Carlton Street Toronto, ON M5A 2L2 Canada Youth Volunteer Trips Tel: 416.964.8942 x 510 Toll-free: 1.877.638.6931 x 510 Fax: 1.416.925.2199 Email: trips@metowe.com School Volunteer Trips Tel: 416.964.8942 x 524 Toll-free: 1.877.638.6931 x 524 Fax: 1.416.925.2199 Email: trips@metowe.com Questions? Ready to book? Contact us today. Learn more at metowe.com/trips TICO #: 50017614 Photographs courtesy of Matt Finlin, V. Tony Hauser, Michael Rajzman and Scott Ramsay