Our Work in Peru

AMIGOS worked in Peru in 2011 and 2012 in the Cusco region.  We are very excited to be able to continue working in the country, and open a new project in partnership with Plan Peru and Ayuda en Accion in the temperate Andean region of Cajamarca.  Both partner agencies work in communities that pertain to the Department of Cajamarca. The Volunteers placed in Plan Peru communties will be in the province of San Marcos, and Volunteers placed in PRODIA communities (the Ayuda en Accion implementing agency) will be in the province of San Miguel.  Both groups of Volunteers will be complimenting Partner Agency initiatives.   All Volunteers will carry out activities within the three major components of the AMIGOS Summer Program.

I. Community Service:  

• Volunteers collaborate with local youth and their host community in the process of identifying, planning, and implementing a small-scale community-specific project.  The objective of this CBI process is to provide Volunteers, local youth, and community members with an opportunity to gain skills in identifying a small-scale project that will benefit their community, practice soliciting funds from a local funding agency, and gain experience designing, implementing, and evaluating a community-based project.
• Extracurricular activities - Volunteers will take the lead in collaborating with local youth to co-plan and co-facilitate games and lessons for children surrounding weekly themes identified by partner agencies.  Involvement of local youth and community members in this project will vary by community, however, we encourage Volunteers to seek out local expertise in order to facilitate higher quality educational activities.
• Our partner agencies PRODIA and Plan Peru both expressed interest in having Volunteers help out teachers during school hours.  This could range from supporting in geography lessons, basic mathematics, basic computers skills, English classes, and general classroom management.

II. Intercultural Exchange:  

•  Living with a host family: Volunteers will have the opportunity to be immersed in Andean culture by living with a host family.  AMIGOS prefers that each Volunteer is assigned to their own host family, however, occasionally two Volunteers are placed with the same host family.  Volunteers are expected to act as part of the family, helping out with chores and taking part in day to day activities.  Andean families highly value a good work ethic and manual labor, in order to gain respect it is particularly important that Volunteers placed in this region are committed to integrating fully into day to day life, and proactively seeking to take part in daily chores. Through this cohabitation Volunteers will learn about the local culture, while also providing host families with insight into their own habits, preferences, and lives back home.  Although eating arrangements vary from one community to another, a common strategy is for Volunteers to have a rotating meal plan, in which they eat with different families in the community.

III. Youth Engagement:

• Local Volunteers:  Prior to Volunteer arrival, two local volunteers will be trained by AMIGOS project staff on the basic program structure and planning and facilitation skills.  Age and engagement of local Volunteers will vary by community.
• Youth conferences  and cultural fairs – Volunteers will participate along with local youth in several project-wide conferences and events.  These range in topics from theater workshops led by local University students, to conferences in order to “train the trainer” and provide Volunteers and local youth with more tools while they are carrying out their extracurricular activities.

There are no specific requirements for this project. Only a good attitude and a willingness to present AMIGOS in a positive light in this new project area!
 

About Our Partners in Peru

Plan has been working in Peru since 1994, opening up and supporting the access of poor and marginalised children to basic rights like health, education, participation and sustainable livelihoods.

Plan’s work benefits more than half a million people in more than 300 communities.

Plan works with children, and their communities and local authorities to identify central issues and produce positive change. Plan Peru’s core areas of activity include: early childhood care and development, quality education, sexual and reproductive rights, participation of children and adolescents, diasaster risk management.

PRODIA is an implementing agency of Ayuda en Accion. Ayuda en Accion is an independent, apolitical, Spanish development organization that works to create structural change that contributes to the eradication of poverty. Ayuda en Accion has was founded in 1981 and curently works in 22 different countries around the world, focus on the following themes: human rights, gender equality,  and promotion of networks of solidarity which fund all the programs in the field. Even though PRODIA has been working in the region of Cajamarca for only one year, the respect they have garned in the region is as visible as the impact of their "Healthy Households" project which will be the main point of collaboration with AMIGOS Volunteers.