“Inti Sisa is an inter-cultural, inter-national and inter-etnical project, a place where people from all nationalities, all ages, all backgrounds and all religions can meet. It is a unique project in a unique village with unique people!”

Inti Sisa, which means sunflower in Kichwa

Inti Sisa is a community project situated in Guamote, a region in Ecuador known for its strong Indigenous culture where 95 percent of the population identifies as Indigenous, compared to only 7 percent for the whole country. The name "Inti Sisa" means sunflower in the local Kichwa language. Historically, the Indigenous people in Guamote were subjected to slavery on large haciendas and were denied access to education until the 1970s when significant agricultural reforms were implemented. Despite these reforms, Guamote remains one of the poorest and least developed regions in Ecuador.

 Founded in 1999, Inti Sisa focuses on providing educational opportunities to adults and supporting local primary and secondary schools. Their educational center in the village offers sewing classes, English courses, recreational activities, computer courses, and homework support. They also operate a kindergarten for 40 three- and four-year-old children.

 (the local Indigenous language)

Inti Sisa also collaborates with Mamita Mia on a project that supports single mothers to cover their children's education costs. They have started implementing the Aflatoun teaching program in various communities, which is a program on social and financial education that promotes social and financial entrepreneurship and encourages individuals to believe in their own possibilities.

Since 2004, Inti Sisa has also operated a hotel and offers tours to national parks, visits to Indigenous communities, and cooking workshops to generate income to support their community projects.

The guesthouse is run by a passionate team of local people who receive ample opportunities and training, in addition to earning a fair wage.

History of the foundation

Inti Sisa started in 1999 as a purely educational project. When Greta Koninckx and Philip De Bruyne were travelling through Ecuador in the early ‘90’s, they were really struck by the living conditions of the people in and around Guamote, but also very impressed by their spirit and their eagerness to move forward in life.  From the question “What can I do for you” grew Inti Sisa. People were asking specifically for help in education. The first volunteers, who came from Belgium to Guamote, went with motorbikes to the different communities to help the local teachers. Thanks to the huge efforts of Greta and Philip enough money was collected to build an educational center in Guamote itself, where we started teaching sewing, computer, English and music. And if you want women to come to your center, you need a place where they can leave there children for a while.

So we started a daycare for children so women could follow a course or look for a job. Early 2001, the first bricks of the new educational center and the guest house were laid down. This guesthouse was founded with the goal of funding the educational project. And in 2004 the new educational center and the guesthouse were opened. From 2012 till 2015 the hotel got a complete make-over. In 2012 the existing part got an extra floor on top of it. And the whole place was renovated. In 2014 we united forces with Colorful Ecuador Travels, a travel agency in Quito. The land next doors was bought and 12 new rooms and a beautiful sitting area were added to the hotel. So since 2015 we have 24 rooms and some very cozy living spaces full with original artwork.

And we managed to get together a great team!

Meet the Team

  • Karina

  • Carmen

  • Dolores

  • Elsa

  • Encarnación

  • Ermelinda

  • Eva

  • Jennyfer

  • Jenny

  • Juanita

  • Laura

  • Lazaro

  • Luisa

  • Martha

  • Norma