Gap Year in the Amazon Rainforest

Your Gap Year in the Amazon Rainforest. Real Work. Real Community. Real Change.

Spend a semester or full year living and working alongside the indigenous Kichwa community in Shandia, Ecuador — in the heart of the Amazon. You'll lead real projects in public health, sustainability, education, and community development. You'll learn Spanish. You'll explore one of the world's most extraordinary ecosystems. And you'll return home as a different person than the one who left.

This isn't a program designed around you. It's a program you design.

Gap Year Accredited | College Credit Available | Since 2004

Is a gap year right for you?

Maybe you just finished high school and you're not ready to sit in another classroom. Maybe you're already in college and something isn't clicking. Maybe you know you want to do something that matters before you settle into the track everyone expects you to follow.

You're not lost. You're just paying attention.

A gap year — done with intention — is one of the most strategic things a young person can do. Research consistently shows that students who take a structured gap year return to college more focused, earn higher GPAs, and report greater career satisfaction than peers who went straight through. 90% of gap year participants return to higher education within a year. They don't fall behind. They arrive ahead.

The question isn't whether to take a gap year. It's what you do with it.

Scene of green trees with bridges and flowing water in the Amazon Rainforest

Why the Amazon? Why MPI?

Most gap year programs take you somewhere interesting. We take you somewhere where you can help whi

The Ecuadorian Amazon is not a backdrop. It's a living ecosystem under real pressure — from deforestation, from climate change, from economic forces that threaten the communities who have called it home for generations. The Kichwa people of Shandia are working to build a sustainable future on their own terms. Manna Project International has been their partner in that work since 2004.

When you join MPI, you don't observe that work from a distance. You become part of it.

You'll live in the community. You'll build relationships with your neighbors — not just with other program participants. You'll work on projects that were here before you arrived and will continue after you leave. That's not a gap year activity. That's a real job in a real place with real consequences.

And on the weekends? You'll white-water raft the Napo River. Hike to natural pools in the jungle. Attend Kichwa festivals. Play nighttime soccer with your neighbors. The Amazon doesn't take days off, and neither will you — but in the best possible way.

what more information?

Download our welcome packet below or contact us at info@mannaproject.org.

gap year welcome packet

What You'll Actually Do

Choose Your Focus. Lead Your Work.

MPI isn't a program where you shadow someone else's project. You arrive, you learn the lay of the land, and then you lead. Program Coordinators work across four tracks — and most people touch more than one:

Sustainability & Environmental Conservation

Support the community's bee program, which is actively reforesting sections of the Amazon. Develop eco-tourism programs that generate income for local families without harming the ecosystem. This is environmental work with economic stakes — which is exactly what the real world looks like.

Public Health

Shadow doctor house calls in the community. Develop maternal healthcare programs. Run workshops on clean water, dental hygiene, and nutrition. Support a teen mental health program. If you're considering medicine, nursing, public health, or social work, this is the most hands-on pre-professional experience you will find.

Eco-Business & Entrepreneurship

Help local cooperatives grow their businesses. Support entrepreneurs selling products in regional markets. Learn grant writing, program design, and the nuts-and-bolts of running a community enterprise in a developing economy. Real business skills. Real stakes.

Education

Teach English. Run youth development programs. Work in the local school. Support after-school programming. If you've ever thought about education, international development, or community organizing, you'll learn more in a month here than in a semester of coursework.

Every project you work on has been developed in collaboration with the Kichwa community — in direct response to what they've said they need. We don't arrive with answers. We arrive ready to learn.

group of volunteers eating a traditional meal outside on banana leaves.

Life at MPI

You won't just be working. You'll be living.

You'll share a house with other interns from around the world, people who are just as motivated, curious, and a little nervous as you are. Within weeks, they'll be your closest friends. Some of them will be in your wedding one day. (We're not exaggerating — it happens.)

Your days start with community. Your evenings are yours to explore, decompress, and connect. Your weekends take you into the Amazon.

A few things you might do on a weekend: raft the Napo River, visit Laguna Azul, hike through primary rainforest, soak in natural thermal pools, explore the market town of Tena, or simply sit on the porch and watch the jungle come alive at dusk.

You'll learn Spanish — not in a classroom, but because you have to. You'll pick up words in Kichwa. You'll eat food your neighbors grew. You'll understand Ecuador not as a visitor but as someone who showed up, stayed, and did the work.

Support That's Actually There

You'll have trained staff and Program Directors on-site with you throughout your stay, along with professional development workshops, one-on-one mentoring sessions, and regular team retreats. MPI has been doing this since 2004. We know what first-timers need, and we make sure you have it.

Your housing, meals, cultural programming, and 24/7 on-site support are covered. You handle your flights and travel insurance. Everything else is taken care of.

The Part That Matters to Your Parents (and Should Matter to You)

We're a Gap Year Association Accredited Program. Here's what that means.

The Gap Year Association is the official Standards Development Organization for gap year education in the United States, recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. GYA accreditation is not a badge you buy. It's the result of a rigorous, multi-round review process covering:

Safety standards and emergency protocols
Staff training, qualifications, and supervision
Financial transparency and ethical operations
Pedagogical integrity — meaning what we say we do, we actually do
Risk management, insurance requirements, and incident reporting

When you choose a GYA-Accredited program, you're choosing a program that has been independently verified to operate at the highest standards in the field. Your parents can rest easier. You can focus on the work.

You Can Earn College Credit — Without Losing Ground

Through MPI's partnership with the Gap Year Association's College Credit Program, you can earn up to 12 transferable college credits from the University of Montana while you're in the field. That means:

You don't fall behind your peers who went straight to college
Your gap year shows up on an official university transcript
You may be able to use your 529 education savings plan to cover program costs
You may qualify to apply AmeriCorps Education Awards toward your program fees

A gap year with MPI is a year on, not a year off — academically and personally.

Note: Credit transferability varies by institution. We strongly encourage students to confirm transfer policies with their registrar or admissions office before enrolling.

Who Comes to MPI

You don't need a background in public health, environmental science, or Spanish. You don't need to have traveled before. You don't need to have figured out what you want to do with your life — in fact, that uncertainty is exactly what makes this experience so valuable.

What you do need:

Genuine curiosity about the world and the people in it
Willingness to be uncomfortable, to be wrong, and to learn from both
A real desire to contribute — not just to observe
Openness to doing things in ways you haven't done them before

MPI has welcomed engineers, nurses, teachers, activists, artists, pre-med students, aspiring lawyers, people who had no idea what they wanted to be, and everything in between. The common thread isn't a major or a career plan. It's a particular kind of character — people who lean into hard things, who are generous with their energy, and who leave places better than they found them.

If that sounds like you, we'd like to meet you.

Schedule A Chat

Program Details

Duration

MPI accepts gap year participants for semester-length (approximately 5 months) and full year stays. New cohorts begin in September, January, and May, with rolling admissions available for added flexibility.

What's Included

Housing, meals, 24/7 on-site staff support, cultural programming (including Kichwa language classes), professional development workshops, one-on-one mentoring, and team retreats. International flights and travel insurance are not included.

Cost

MPI uses a tiered contribution model designed to make participation accessible regardless of financial background. We believe the ability to pay shouldn't determine who gets to do meaningful work. All participants are encouraged to select the tier that honestly reflects their financial situation.

For students who need additional support, the Amaguaña Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance for applicants who identify as BIPOC and demonstrate financial need. Students who do not meet these requirements, are also encouraged to look at our scholarships page to see scholarships that previous participants have received to pay for their funding. One-on-one fundraising support is also available for any participant interested in raising their program costs from their community.

Application Process

Submit your online application and email your résumé to apply@mannaproject.org. You'll hear from us within one week to schedule a phone interview, and receive an acceptance decision within one week of that interview.

FAQ

No. 98% of colleges and universities accept deferral requests for planned gap years. Many of the most selective schools in the country — Harvard, Princeton, UNC, Duke — actively encourage it. Students who take structured gap years are often considered more mature and purposeful applicants. If you've already been accepted somewhere, contact the admissions office directly to request a deferral before your enrollment deadline.
The research says the opposite. Studies using data from Middlebury College and others consistently show that gap year students earn higher GPAs than peers who went straight through — and the effect holds across all four years of college. You won't fall behind. You'll arrive more focused than you would have been.
MPI's GYA Accreditation requires compliance with rigorous safety and risk management standards, including 24/7 on-site staff, emergency protocols, comprehensive liability insurance, and formal incident reporting. We've been operating in Shandia since 2023 and have deep relationships with the community and local infrastructure. Your safety is our primary responsibility.
No prior Spanish is required. Most participants arrive as beginners and leave conversational. Living inside a Spanish-speaking community is the fastest language education you'll ever have.
You may be eligible to use 529 education savings plan funds toward your program costs. This is one of the most underutilized financial tools available to gap year students. We're happy to talk with you about it.
Tell us. MPI's tiered contribution model means no two participants necessarily pay the same amount — and that's by design. The Amaguaña Scholarship Fund exists specifically to support students who would otherwise be priced out. We also offer one-on-one fundraising support. Reach out before you assume it's out of reach.
They go to law school, medical school, graduate programs in public health and international development, careers in NGOs and education, and more. They also go back to MPI — as donors, as references, as people who can't quite let go of Shandia. The community we build here tends to last.

Ready to Find Out If This Is For You?

This page can only tell you so much. The real conversation starts when you reach out.

Tell us a little about yourself — what you're drawn to, what you're nervous about, what you're hoping this year will do for you. We'll be honest with you about whether MPI is the right fit.

Apply Now

Get in Touch With a Question

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Manna Project equips volunteers with leadership development skills for a variety of career fields, including medicine, international development, law, the greater non-profit sector, education and international politics.