Experience indigenous Ecuadorian culture. Hike through sacred waterfalls, and explore an indigenous artisan marketplace before soaking up some rays on Ecuador's pristine beaches.
From Quito you’ll journey to the tropical province of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, named after the local ethnic group. You’ll visit a local Tsáchila community, meet and chat with the locals and take a waterfall tour before taking the field for a friendly match against a soccer school started by Ivan Kaviedes, a local soccer legend and World Cup star for Ecuador.
Next you’ll travel to Mompiche in the Northwest coastal province of Esmeraldas, known not only for having the best beaches in the country, but also for producing the country’s best soccer players. You’ll get plenty of practice, whether playing beach soccer with the locals or stepping up your game at the National High Performance Center at Green River. You’ll also visit the Chamanga Allbuerge, where families displaced by the devastating 2016 earthquake still stay and take in a show celebrating Ecuador’s Afro-Indian culture.
Mindo, a tiny town surrounded by forested mountains, is a popular backpacker destination where you can try out the many adventure sports on offer and watch a local game. Your final stop will be Otavalo, whose craft market dates back hundreds of years to pre-Inca times and where Otavaleños and indígena (indigenous) people from the surrounding villages still wear traditional clothing – women in embroidered white blouses, long wool skirts, fachalinas (headcloths), woven belts, canvas sandals and strands of beads; and men in felt hats, blue ponchos and calf-length pants, hair braided in one long strand.
Day 1: Arrival and transfer to hotel. Guided tour of the historic city center of Quito. Welcome meeting with FUDELA.
Day 2: Training with former professional player and coach Juan Carlos Burbano. Participate in FUDELA workshop. Play a friendly match against a FUDELA youth team.
Day 3: Visit the ‘Middle of the World’ and the Intiñan Sol Museum. the third half curriculum workshop #1 - Global Citizenship and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Day 4: Transfer to Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas. Training and story sharing with FUDELA youth.
Day 5: Visit Tsachila community and waterfall. Friendly match against local footballer Ivan Kaviedes’ football school.
Day 6: Transfer to Mompiche in Esmereldas. Free time at the beach. Visit the Chamanga Albergue. the third half curriculum workshop #2 - Conscious Leadership.
Day 7: Training in the High Performance Ministry of Sports Center. Watch an Afro Culture show. Transfer to Mindo.
Day 8: Walking tour of Mindo. Adventure sport activity. Transfer to Quito. Walking night tour of the town and dinner in downtown Quito. Professional Match (additional cost and subject to availability).
Day 9: Visiting a local FUDELA project and meet with the youth team of FUDELA for reflection. the third half curriculum workshop #3 - Sustainable Development Goal #4 - Quality Education.
Day 10: Transfer to Otavalo and tour of city and lakes. Lunch at the cabins at the lake. Visit an indigenous community.
Day 11: Friendly match against local team. Visit a local craft market. Farewell event with the youth leaders of FUDELA.
Day 12: Check out of hotel, transfer to airport and fly home.
FUDELA offers comprehensive training and technical skill development that improve young people’s chances of getting a job and earning a living. It also uses soccer as a tool for training and motivation, and for promoting the development of values such as teamwork, discipline and effective communications such as unemployment, violence, drug use and teenage pregnancy. Your visit will help FUDELA bring life skills training to around 320 young people from disadvantaged communities in Quito.
