Help low-income, indigenous communities reduce water loss, improve housing safety, and restore their environment through sustainable, community-based engineering projects..
The Challenge
In rural Guaranda, essential infrastructure is often improvised rather than designed. Water reaches homes through long plastic hoses that crack under the sun and leak much of their flow before reaching families or crops. Adobe houses, though sustainable and traditional, are built without soil studies or solid foundations, leaving them vulnerable to cracks, settlement, and earthquakes. Household electricity is often routed with makeshift cabling, raising safety concerns. At the same time, decades of deforestation have reduced local water sources, while public services like schools and health posts have closed, creating additional pressure on already vulnerable families. Without technical guidance, many community solutions remain temporary and fragile, leaving structural challenges unresolved.
The Solution
At El Terreno, we believe that the best solutions are built together. By combining local knowledge with hands-on engineering, we create practical and adaptable approaches that can address challenges in water, housing, energy, and beyond. Interns work side by side with families, professionals, and community leaders to test ideas, apply technical skills, and design replicable tools that communities can sustain long after the project ends.
Our Proven Methodology
Our internship programs are built around the transformative Design Thinking methodology, ensuring that every solution meets the unique needs of low-income populations. You’ll engage deeply with local stakeholders to understand root challenges, co-create ideas, and test solutions that drive real impact. Through immersive guided tours, social innovation workshops, and hands-on prototyping, you’ll collaborate to build and refine sustainable initiatives. By the end of your experience, you’ll not only gain professional skills but also create lasting resources that empower communities and future interns to continue this meaningful work.
Recommended by Previous Participants
¡Advance Your Career!
Gain more project experience with the support of trained mentors to expand your knowledge and build your confidence.
Now more than ever, employers are looking for a resume with diverse experiences, certificates and strong references that an internship provides.
"I loved everything about this experience!"
Having recently graduated from university, I wanted to gain experience and put my skills into practice; this internship fulfilled that. The mixture of site visits as well as some desktop work that really worked for me. There is opportunity to work with the local community and really get involved. Also, the mentors taught me so much during and are genuinely amazing.
Joshua is also a great leader who you can can seek help regarding a work issues but also your personal well-being too.Finally, I stayed with a local family who were so accommodating. It was an experience I will never forget and will value forever.
Tiara from the UK (Community Water Projects)
Results from Past Internships
Check out this final presentation from previous interns, to see what they've achieved during their time here
¿What's Included?
Free Discovery Call & Plan
Flexible Start Date & Duration
Educational Documentation Support
Pre-Arrival & Travel Support
Shared Accommodation with WiFi
(Family Homestay also Available)
Lunches Monday to Friday
Weekly Professional Learning/Mentoring
In-Person Coordination
Cultural Immersion
Free-Time Recommendations
Certificate of Completion
Written Reference
Additional Services
Private Room within a Local Family Homestay
Spanish/Kichwa Classes (before or during visit)
Private Transfer from Airport
Additional Professional Mentoring Sessions
Washing Services
Application Process
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Fill out the online interest form
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Participate in your discovery call, free of charge
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Review your personalised internship plan, free of charge
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Place your deposit & confirm your place
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Complete any required documents for your education provider
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Join us for an unforgettable experience in the Ecuadorian Andes!
Gain Experience.
Make a Difference.
Travel the World.
Imagine waking up to the cockerels at dawn as the sun rises over the horizon as you take in Chimborazo volcano over your morning coffee. After breakfast, walk down to meet your mentor, stopping to say hello to the friendly neighbours in the community as they take their cows to pasture.
Spend an hour to talk through your plans with your mentor, deepening your technical knowledge and finding out how to implement it within the local environment. Then take a trip into the colonial city of Guaranda to do some shopping and stop at a café to do some more research. Get back in time for lunch, which you spend with the rest of the team and workers from the local community, sharing stories and learning about the local culture.
Meet with your coordinator in the afternoon, to plan your pilot project or present your findings to the local community, before joining other interns and volunteers to go and watch the sunset, go out to a local bar/restaurant or simply spend the evening learning more from your host family.
Still not sure what a hands-on in the Ecuadorian Andes would look like? Speak to our team who will create you a personalised internship plan to give you a glimpse into the future, all free of charge.
