Project Life
Volunteer on community programs in Peru

The First Weekend

Volunteers need to arrive in Arequipa on a Saturday. From Lima, you can fly (1 hour) or take a bus (13 hours) to Arequipa, where you will be met by the GVI project manager in Arequipa. There will be two transport pickup times from the airport on the Saturday: one in the afternoon and one late at night, to cater for the different arrival times of the flights, yet 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 introduced to your host family and shown around the important areas of Arequipa, including the internet, banks and other necessities, before being left to explore yourself. That night, we will all meet up for a welcome supper in the Plaza de Armas.

The Work

Once Spanish classes are completed, or you are not taking the Spanish classes, you will work in the chosen community from Monday to Friday. Days begin early, eating breakfast with the host family before you meet the pickup at around 7.15am and travel to the designated communities, situated about a 30 minute drive along semi-paved roads, to begin classes at 8am. Morning lessons are interspersed with breaks and finish at 1pm, whereupon you will have a short break for lunch, before the ‘aula abierta’ sessions, which continue until 3.30-4pm. After this, you will return to Arequipa.

The subjects you teach in lessons range from literacy, numeracy, English, art, geography, and sport. Full curriculums, class subjects and help from the local teachers are provided. As class sizes are so large, there are many children who find it difficult to keep up, so you will take smaller groups of children and help them with their work in hand, whilst the teachers can continue with normal classes. You will do most of the teaching, 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 the local community’s chances of employment in Arequipa’s growing tourist industry.

No formal teacher-training is required, as each volunteer will be supported by the GVI project manager, 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.

Also included is a ‘material scholarship’ for one child to go to school for a year. Education is free in Perú but the materials are not, yet must be provided by law, which is one of the main reasons children do not attend school.