Yanapuma Foundation

True Ecuador Travel and Yanapuma Foundation . . .

Yanapuma Foundation was formed in 2006 as an Ecuadorian non-profit NGO. Our mission is to promote sustainable development in indigenous and marginalized communities in Ecuador, and to promote cultural exchange between persons of developed and developing countries for the mutual benefit of both.

At the start we adopted a "social enterprise" model, developing a Spanish school as a means of generating some income to support our first projects. Later we developed a volunteer department, placing international volunteers in any of over 35 grass-roots and local organizations around the country, as well as providing internships for work with the foundation.

In the beginning we received small donations of $50- $100 dollars, and these increased to $500 - $1,000 and up to $5,000 - $10,000 as our skills and our reputation developed. From 2013 to 2015 we are working primarily on a 3-year funding grant from the Inter American Foundation for $211,000, to which Yanapuma and True Ecuador Travel are contributing around $72,000 from the income from our Spanish schools and the travel agency.

In addition to our principal development work with the Tsa'chila culture of the province of Santo Domingo (you can read more here!), we offer scholarships to youth from two rural indigenous communities to study at high school, funded by a registration fee from students from the Spanish schools and annual donations at Christmas. We also work to connect international organizations and groups with communities and organizations that are working to develop through local initiatives. .

Since 2006 we have built up links with many of the indigenous groups and initiatives that are taking place in Ecuador, and we are always delighted to be able to help international universities, high-schools, and other groups to establish relationships with suitable projects as part of our mission to promote cultural exchange between persons of developed and developing countries for the mutual benefit of both.