SPRING INTERNSHIP PROGRAM:
Next semester: Spring 2027
Click HERE for information about our SUMMER Internships
"My favorite aspects are the program's focus on community and the deep connections that you can create with community members. The program is geared towards communities and meant to empower and support them, with this program being just one feature - it is not a study abroad / internship program with a focus on communities, but rather a program built for indigenous communities that also involves study abroad and internships."
- Zach Barankowski
Clark University
Spring 2024
Program DESCRIPTION
The Pachaysana Semester Community Internship Program is a 15-week immersive experience that combines community-engaged project implementation, intercultural learning, language development, critical reflection, and experiential education. Rooted in Pachaysana’s long-standing partnerships with Indigenous and agrarian communities in Ecuador, the program invites students to live, learn, and collaborate alongside community educators, youth leaders, farmers, artists, and environmental stewards in both the Andes and Amazon regions.
Unlike traditional internships that position participants as outside experts or service providers, this program is grounded in reciprocity, humility, and long-term relationship-building. Students contribute to community-defined initiatives already underway while engaging in a rigorous process of intercultural learning, self-reflection, and professional development.
The program is particularly well suited for students interested in environmental studies, sustainability, education, Indigenous studies, anthropology, sociology, global studies, public health, communications, community development, and social justice.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the semester, participants will be able to:
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Apply practical skills in community-based and intercultural collaboration.
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Analyze social and environmental challenges through frameworks of decoloniality, environmental justice, and social change.
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Strengthen communication skills in Spanish while gaining introductory exposure to Kichwa language and culture.
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Reflect critically on identity, privilege, culture, and relational responsibility.
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Contribute meaningfully to long-term community initiatives through collaborative project implementation.
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Develop a deeper understanding of Indigenous and agrarian knowledge systems and their relationship to sustainability and territorial stewardship.
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Strengthen leadership, adaptability, collaboration, conflict transformation, and ethical engagement skills.
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Produce professional, academic, or creative work connected to their internship experience.
Community Based Projects
Students collaborate with community partners and Pachaysana staff on projects that support existing community priorities. Project areas vary according to community needs and student skills but may include:
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Alternative and intercultural education
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Curriculum development and educational materials
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Regenerative agriculture and food sovereignty
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Environmental restoration and biodiversity conservation
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Storytelling, documentary, photography, and communications
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Community mapping and participatory research
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Arts for social change
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Youth leadership and mentorship initiatives
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Community tourism and intercultural exchange
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Environmental and social justice research
Projects are developed collaboratively and are designed to contribute to long-term community goals while supporting students’ academic and professional interests.
Applicants identify their primary and secondary areas of interest in the application. After acceptance, Pachaysana staff will start to coordinate project planning between interns and community leaders. The work areas are:
Reforestation, Regenerative Agriculture & Bioconstruction:
Interns support community-led initiatives focused on ecological restoration and regenerative living. Depending on community needs and the season, projects may include tree planting, native seed collection, regenerative agriculture, food production, composting, bioconstruction, and other hands-on sustainability initiatives.
Storytelling:
Interns collaborate with community members to document and share local stories through creative media. Projects may include photography, short films, digital storytelling, social media content, visual arts, or community-based theatre that help strengthen cultural identity and communicate ongoing community initiatives.
Alternative Education:
Interns support community-led educational programs by co-designing and facilitating learning activities alongside local educators. Depending on their interests and experience, interns may contribute to workshops in areas such as languages, arts, environmental education, sports, leadership, or other creative learning experiences for children and youth.
Program Structure
Orientation and Foundations (Weeks 1 to 3)
The semester begins with an intensive orientation in the Andean community of Pintag Amaru. Students are introduced to Pachaysana’s philosophy, community expectations, intercultural frameworks, health and safety procedures, and relational approaches to learning and collaboration.
Participants then engage in a two-week course focused on Spanish language development, storytelling, identity, justice, and community-based learning. During this period, students begin developing project plans in collaboration with community counterparts.
Community Project Implementation (Weeks 4 to 13)
The majority of the semester is dedicated to project implementation within partner communities in both the Andes and Amazon. Students live with host families, participate in daily community life, and engage in ongoing mentorship and reflection while contributing to community projects.
This period is divded into several phases to support the process of project development, during which the interns collaborate with Indigenous and agrarian communities, gaining experience in their project areas, navigating diverse cultural contexts and building meaningful relationships across difference.
Experiential Learning Excursions (Two 3-day excursions: one in the Andes and one in the Amazon)
The program includes educational excursions designed to deepen participants’ understanding of Ecuador’s social, environmental, and political realities. These experiences may include visits to Indigenous-led initiatives, cultural projects, environmental justice sites, and community-based sustainability efforts.
Reflection and Synthesis (Weeks 14 and 15)
The final weeks focus on project completion, community presentations, documentation, and reflection. Students produce final deliverables for both community partners and their home institutions while exploring how their experiences will continue shaping their academic, professional, and personal trajectories.
Distinctive Features
Community-Defined Learning
Projects emerge from existing community priorities rather than externally imposed agendas.
Intercultural Immersion
Participants live with host families and engage daily with community educators, leaders, and youth.
Andes–Amazon Comparative Experience
Students gain firsthand understanding of two distinct cultural, ecological, and territorial contexts within Ecuador.
Integrated Reflection and Practice
Academic inquiry, project implementation, language learning, and personal reflection are intentionally interconnected throughout the semester.
Long-Term Partnerships
Students contribute to initiatives that are part of broader community visions and long-term collaborative relationships rather than short-term volunteer projects.
Academic Structure and Expectations
The Semester Community Internship Program combines experiential learning, project-based work, language development, critical reflection, and community-engaged scholarship. While the program is intentionally flexible and responsive to individual student interests and institutional requirements, participants are expected to engage in a rigorous academic and professional learning process throughout the semester.
Contact Hours
Participants complete an average of 25–30 contact hours per week, depending on the phase of the program. Contact hours may include:
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Community-based project implementation
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Meetings with community partners and mentors
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Language instruction and practice
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Workshops and seminars
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Reflection sessions
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Guided excursions and educational visits
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Independent project planning and collaborative work
Readings and Critical Reflection
Students engage with a curated selection of readings related to themes such as:
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Decoloniality and interculturality
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Community-based development
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Environmental and climate justice
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Indigenous knowledge systems
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Regenerative agriculture and sustainability
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Storytelling and participatory methodologies
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Identity, privilege, and relationality
Readings are complemented by ongoing reflective writing, group discussions, and facilitated dialogue sessions that encourage students to connect theory with lived experience.
Assessment and Deliverables
Students gain firsthand understanding of two distinct cultural, ecological, and territorial contexts within Ecuador.
Integrated Reflection and Practice
Throughout the semester, students develop a portfolio of work documenting their learning and project contributions. Deliverables may include:
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Reflective journals or essays
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Project reports
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Community presentations
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Creative works (photography, documentary, storytelling, media projects)
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Research summaries or literature reviews
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Professional portfolios
All participants complete a final presentation at the conclusion of the program.
Institutional Flexibility
Recognizing that partner institutions may have different academic expectations, the program is designed to accommodate additional requirements established by home universities. Faculty-directed assignments, research papers, presentations, capstone projects, internship reports, and other academic deliverables can be incorporated into the semester structure in collaboration with institutional partners.
This flexibility allows the program to support a range of internship, experiential learning, independent study, community-engaged learning, and academic credit models.
While academic credit remains the responsibility of the home institution, the Semester-long Community Internship Program is designed as a full-time, academically rigorous experience that can be adapted to support a range of internship, experiential learning, independent study, and community-engaged learning models. Through a combination of community-based project implementation, structured reflection, readings, language learning, mentorship, research, and final deliverables, the program can typically meet requirements associated with 12–16 semester credits, depending on institutional expectations.
For those students who require a Pachaysana transcript (through our School of Record, Juniata College), we can arrange for you to structure your internship as a series of Independent Studies based on our Rehearsing Change curriculum.
WHAT PREVIOUS PARTICIPANTS are saying
Maya Egan
Clark University
Spring 2026
“The program allows for living and being in close connection with our host communities so that we are able to not only learn and work directly with the people who are welcoming us but also to form deeper and more meaningful connections.”
Asher Rosen,
American University
Fall 2025
"I love the host families. One of the most inexplicably gorgeous aspects of being abroad was the families and our day to day connections.”
Judith Hernandez-Hernadez,
Macalester College
Spring 2025
"I loved the hands on experience with the forest school. The support from the Pachaysana tutor and community educators helped me gain a new understanding of what education is."
Elsabet Franklin
Clark University
Spring 2025
"The welcoming environment fostered by the community educators allowed me to be comfortable with making mistakes, asking questions, and being more vulnerable than I've ever been in any academic setting"
Isabelle Newland
Wesleyan University
Spring 2025
"Pachaysana support was incredible, not just from an emotional perspective, but also in the sense that they made space for us to voice our thoughts when some of us had questions/concerns. And I was super impressed by how smoothly all the projects were coordinated. I am so grateful for all of the Pachaysana staff and the way they showed up for us and honored our thoughts and feelings.
Zoe Swaine
American University
Spring 2024
"I have grown in ways I never would have anticipated. I feel like a more observant, open, loving, interested, and kind person. My view of the world, my peers, those who are different from me, and the world are so much more open and more informed, and I've learned how to learn and connect with people in ways that I've never experienced before."
Community Partners
During the Spring Internship, students live and work with two partner communities. Their primary internship project takes place with Pintag Amaru, while a secondary collaborative project is carried out with Mushullakta. Together, these experiences allow interns to learn from two distinct ecological and cultural landscapes while contributing to long-term community-led initiatives.
Pintag Amaru (Primary Community Partner)
Pintag Amaru is a rural ancestral Andean community located approximately one hour southeast of Quito. Interns live and work in the community's developing ecovillage, Casa Amaru, where they collaborate with local leaders on projects related to regenerative agriculture, ecological restoration, education, and community development.
The community maintains a strong agricultural tradition rooted in ancestral practices such as chakras (diversified family farms), seed saving, ceremonial planting cycles, and collective labor (minga). These traditions continue to shape daily life while informing innovative approaches to sustainability and community resilience.
Like many rural communities across the Andes, Pintag Amaru faces challenges including migration to urban areas, limited access to culturally relevant education, and the gradual loss of traditional ecological knowledge. In response, community members have partnered with Humans for Abundance, Pachaysana's ecosystem restoration initiative, and Pachaysana's intercultural education programs to strengthen local livelihoods through ecological restoration, arts-based education, and intergenerational leadership development.
Together, they are restoring native forests, creating community-led learning spaces, and revitalizing cultural identity through traditional music, storytelling, agroecology, and collective stewardship of the land.
Interns contribute directly to these initiatives through projects in regenerative agriculture, bioconstruction, ecosystem restoration, education, and community engagement, while supporting local efforts to create meaningful opportunities for young people to envision futures rooted in their own communities.
Mushullakta (Secondary Community Partner)
Mushullakta is a small Indigenous Kichwa community of approximately 20 families located in Ecuador's upper Amazon, about four hours from Quito. Interns live and work in the heart of the community, surrounded by family farms and bordering the Sumaco-Napo-Galeras National Park.
Over the past six years, the community has become a regional leader in ecological restoration and Indigenous education. Together with Pachaysana, community members have restored more than 150 hectares of rainforest while creating the Children of the Living Forest School, a middle and high school with a multilingual curriculum grounded in ancestral knowledge, forest conservation, regenerative agriculture, and sustainable living.
Although interns spend less time in Mushullakta, they participate in collaborative projects that deepen their understanding of Indigenous approaches to education, conservation, community governance, and the reciprocal relationships between people and the forest.
Host Family Life
In both communities, interns live with carefully selected host families who have partnered with Pachaysana for many years. These families are not simply accommodations; they are co-educators and an integral part of the internship experience.
Living with a host family provides interns with daily opportunities to practice Spanish, participate in family life, share meals, learn local customs, and experience community life from the inside. Many of the most meaningful learning moments occur around the dinner table, while working together on the farm, or during everyday conversations and celebrations.
Interns have a private bedroom and share a bathroom with the rest of the family. While living conditions are modest compared to what many students may be accustomed to, they are comfortable, welcoming, and provide an authentic experience of rural community life. Most importantly, host families offer a sense of belonging and support that often becomes one of the most transformative aspects of the internship.
REquirements and what you should know
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Pintag and Mushullakta are rural communities and we expect interns to adapt to a rural lifestyle. Most families wake up early, take care of animals and raise crops.
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Communities have running water, electricity, and internet, but living conditions are basic.
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In Pintag, homes are made of cement and brick. In Mushullakta, wood-plank homes are simple, yet very comfortable. Each intern has their own bedroom and shares the family bathroom.
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In Pintag the city of Sangolqui is about 45 minutes away, and Quito is a little over an hour from host family homes. Students are free to travel when the work schedule permits.
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In Pintag, most meals are with host families with an occasional communal meal at Casa Amaru. In Mushullakta, breakfast and dinner are provided in the host families and lunches are enjoyed together with other members of the community in the communal dining area.
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Communities can accommodate most diets, including vegetarianism, veganism, gluten-free, dairy-free and others.
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All host family homes are within minutes of walking distance from the others, meaning that all interns will be able to easily meet up with others.
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Each intern is responsible for hand-washing their own clothes, although in Pintag most families have washing machines.
Language Requirements
In Pintag, the primary language is Spanish. We recommend that interns come with an intermediate level of Spanish. For students with primary levels, we ask that they inquire before applying, as we may have certain projects for primary level speakers.
The native language of Mushullakta is Kichwa, but most inhabitants also speak Spanish.
Guidance & accompaniment:
Pachaysana provides regular guidance and accompaniment throughout the program. It begins with two to three virtual pre-departure orientation sessions done via Zoom. Upon arrival in Ecuador, Pachaysana leads an on-site orientation that covers important sessions on health, safety, interculturality, community/host family life, and more.
Throughout the community-based component of the internship, Pachaysana will have an on site staff member or trained community coordinator to provide guidance and assist in the case of an emergency.
Pachaysana will also pick up students on their arrival day, lead the scheduled program excursion in the middle of the internship period, and assure that students arrive safely to the airport on their last day.
Health and Safety
Pachaysana provides 24/7 health and safety support for all interns. Please consult our "Parent Information" page for more information.
Visas
No visas are required for citizens of most countries; however, for non-U.S. citizens, please contact us to see if you will need a visa to intern in Ecuador.
COSTS
Total Program Cost: $17,500
Tuition & Fees: $14,300
All program associated costs, including educational excursions.
Room & Board: $3,200
Includes 3 meals per day.
Apply
DUE DATE: October 15, 2026
Preferred application date is September 15, 2026.
Application Process:
We hope to make this application as simple as possible. There are three steps you need to complete:
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Fill out the online form. (Email us at infopachaysana.org with questions.)
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Write a brief statement or make a short video that shares why you want to participate in the program.
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Participate in an online interview two to three weeks after submitting your application