Ecuador Health & Medical - Medical Clinic

  Ecuador

• Quito: 
Quito

Durations of Program: 5-8 weeks, 9-12 weeks, 3-6 months and 7-12 months
Typical Duration of Program: 9-12 weeks
Dates: Year round, monthly departures

Description: Provoked by the debt crises of the 1980s, working children became a common sight on the streets of Quito and all over most Latin American cities. Since this phenomenon began, many programs and centres have been formed to assist these children focusing almost exclusively on male children.

In 1989, frustrated by the lack of attention paid to the specific problems confronted by working girls, a group of concerned Ecuadorian citizens founded Centro de la Niña Trabajadora (CENIT).

Centro de la Niña Trabajadora (known by its initials in Spanish as CENNIT) is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1991 by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.

CENNIT uses educational and vocational programs to help working girls and their families overcome grinding poverty and improve the quality of their lives. The result is generations of working women with the education and skills to form healthy families that contribute to a more just and productive society.

In CENIT's Medical Clinic volunteers are needed to talk about health, general problems, nutrition, and hygiene with many of the mothers and their children. The clinic is a place where families without any money can seek medical attention, and where they can bring their children and extended families as well.

In addition to the volunteers, there is also a doctor working in the clinic. Responsibilities: Volunteers help out in our weekly medical clinic keeping records, entering information about new patients (taking height, weight, blood pressure and temperature measurements), and are able to observe physician-patient interactions in some cases. This is a great learning experience for people interested in primary health care in developing countries.

Qualifications: Individuals are needed who are approachable, flexible, social, and have open personalities. Someone who might not enjoy this placement will be anyone who doesn't like to work with children or teenagers.

Cost in US$: $2775 for 8 weeks, $165 each additional week

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: We believe everyone can contribute by volunteering. Recent graduates from high school, college or university, professionals taking a career break, recent retirees, individuals or groups who are interested in a change and the chance to enrich their own life and the lives of others. If you are 18 years or older you can apply for any of the placements available. If you are from 16-18 years old you may apply for placements near our Volunteer Abroad Office and Residence, so that we are able to give you more support. Both students and professionals are needed for placements in all our countries.

Age Range: 18 +

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants. This Program is also open to Families, Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to Ecuador Independently

Typically Participants Work Independently Or in Groups of custom

Application Process Involves:

• Letters of Reference
• Resume
• Written Application

Volunteer Abroad's Mission Statement: We believe international volunteering promotes cross-cultural learning that helps create global awareness, understanding between cultures and provides the platform for positive change. Our volunteers have taught in schools, provided disaster relief support for the International Red Cross, conducted essential research to improve the management strategies of threatened environments, built homes for impoverished people, provided vocational training and programs for street kids and have worked in co-operation with hundreds of local organizations to distribute aid and improve the quality of life for people throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Year Founded: 1998