One of my favourite things about this trip was our volunteering week in the homestay in Tena, which was in the Amazon rainforest. We were hosted by an Ecuadorian family, who looked after us, cooked our meals, led some adventures and talked to us about their life in the rainforest teaching us about different plants and their uses. For example, when they cut themselves they hit the wound with poison ivy to stimulate healing.
In return, we helped cook, clean and tidy at the homestay and then went off to help in the school, where we cleaned, fixed, painted and tidied up, and as a special thank you, we donated some of our toiletries and teaching resources to the school and local families.
