Ecuador Health and Medical - Children's Hospital Baca Ortiz

  Ecuador

• Quito: 
Quito

Durations of Program: 5-8 weeks, 9-12 weeks, 3-6 months and 7-12 months
Typical Duration of Program: 1-2 years
Dates: 9-12 weeks, Monthly departures

Description: Volunteers are needed to help with tasks according to their certifications and abilities. General volunteers that want to help out in the hospital will be placed where there is the most need. Tasks include visiting patients, filling out charts, handing out medicines, supplies, baby diapers, and helping with the daily routine of the permanant volunteers in the hospital... Volunteers are kept very busy and are greatly valued!

Volunteers who have more specialized skills or training are welcome to request to work in a unit of the hospital according to their training and abilities, which requests the hosptial will fulfill where appropriate.

As this hospital is an under-funded state facility, they are desperate for any funds possible. There is a great need for any help in fund-raising operations of the hospital for interested individuals.

Highlights: Because patients arrive from all over Ecuador, especially from isolated, poorer areas (as this is a government funded facility) there is a lack of funding and personnel to take care of all of the children. For this reason volunteers are greatly appreciated in the work they do and the element of hope and care they add to the atmosphere in the hospital.

Patients in this hospital range in age from new borns to 14 years old. As this is the largest children's hospital in Quito there are hundreds of children who are in-patients in the hospital at any time and hundreds more out-patients.

Qualifications: Volunteers who are specialized in medicine or health will be placed according to their abilities, otherwise volunteers do not need any special training.

Volunteers need to be patient and caring individuals. Some of the children you will see are very sick or need treatments that the family cannot afford. Volunteers should therefore be strong individuals who are ready to see these children on a daily basis and add some brightness to their day.

People who have a hard time seeing different medical conditions and may be disturbed by the state in which people arrive at the hospital or seeing treatment take place may have a difficult time at this placement.

Cost in US$: 2,775 USD for 8 weeks, USD165 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.

Participants Travel to Ecuador Independently

Typically Participants Work Independently or in Groups of custom

Application Process Involves:

• Letters of Reference
• Resume
• Written Application

Basecamp International Centers'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