The Project
Volunteer on community programs in Peru

Please note: our education projects in Peru are unique to Global Vision International. All funding of these projects comes directly from Global Vision International and volunteer contributions, included in the programme fee. We receive no other outside source of income, apart from that raised through GVI and volunteer contributions. Suffice to say, without this funding from GVI and the volunteer contributions, the projects simply would not exist.

Who We Are Helping and Why

Each year, thousands of people migrate from the Sierra and the Altiplano to try to find work in Arequipa, though due to language barriers (they are Quechua-speaking as opposed to Spanish-speaking), cultural differences and illiteracy, they find it very hard to integrate themselves into local life. Therefore ‘pueblos jovenes’, or new villages or towns, are springing up outside Arequipa. They are a type of stepping stone from the Sierra to Arequipa. Most of the housing doesn’t have electricity, running water or other amenities, but with the $3 a day they earn from agriculture, they are slowly but surely building up a new life in these towns, learning Spanish and receiving education in the local schools.

Due to the ever-growing quantity of children requiring education, language barriers and the low standard of teaching; the education they receive isn’t good, and many children leave early or do not receive the level required to gain employment in Arequipa. Many of the parents have never received an education, so cannot help the children with their homework. Furthermore, many parents cannot afford to get the basic school supplies or school uniform needed for their children which, by law, the children must have to attend school.

The schools themselves can have up to 250 children of all different abilities and language skills. A handful of teachers are charged with teaching them all and bringing them all through the school year – a very demanding and often impossible task, especially due to the scarce school supplies. Some children only speak a smattering of Spanish, but there simply isn’t time to give the personalised attention they require, and they don’t receive help from home.

A handful of teachers are charged with teaching them all and bringing them all through the school year – a very demanding and often impossible task, especially due to the scarce school supplies. There simply isn’t time to give the personalised attention they require, and they don’t receive help from home.

Before initiating each project, the school and the community put together an idea of areas of education to be addressed, which invariably includes basic literacy and numeracy, with particular attention paid to maths and English. Further areas may include Spanish grammar, geography, sciences and agriculture.