Project Life
Volunteer Travel to Teach in South America for 12 Weeks

The First Weekend

Volunteers need to arrive in Arequipa on the fixed start date. From Lima, you can fly (1hr) or take a bus (13 hours) and you will be met by the GVI project manager in Arequipa. It is preferable that you arrive in the afternoon. On arrival, you will be transferred to the hotel in Arequipa. On Sunday, you will be given a full orientation, introduced to your host family and shown around the important areas of Arequipa, including the internet, banks and other necessities, then you will be left to explore. That night, we will all meet up for a welcome supper.

See up to date info on the project Blog

The Work

Once the Spanish classes are completed or if you are not taking the Spanish classes, you will work in the chosen community from Monday to Friday. Days start with eating breakfast with the host family before meeting the pickup at around 7.15am and travelling to the designated communities. Morning lessons are interspersed with breaks and finish at 1pm. After a short break for lunch the ‘aula abierta’ sessions continue until 3.30-4pm, after which you will return to either Arequipa or Otavalo.

The teaching you will undertake will range from literacy, numeracy, English, art, geography and sport. Full curriculums, class subjects and help from the local teachers is provided. As class sizes are so large, there are many children who find it difficult to keep up. Therefore you will take smaller groups of children, helping them with the work in hand whilst the teachers can continue with normal class. You will do most of the teaching, obviously aided for the first few days by the formal teacher, existing volunteers and the GVI project manager. The ‘aulas abiertas’ will be split into two areas. The first is dedicated to those children who need reinforcement and help with homework from the morning’s classes, as well as children and adults who have never been to school or have had to leave school prematurely due to financial constraints or work related reasons. The second aim of the ‘aula abierta’ is to offer English classes to increase chances of employment in the growing tourist industry.

No formal teacher-training is required as each volunteer will be supported by the GVI project manager, interns, existing volunteers and the local teacher for the first few days. Resource books, the relevant materials and a curriculum will be available for the volunteers’ use. A weekly meeting is also held to discuss structure, swap ideas and to work on the following week’s classes although the GVI project manager will be around all week to offer advice and help.