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Peru Community Development Quests
Volunteer Abroad Programs: 1-12 weeks

United Planet offers lots of volunteer work in Peru. Volunteers can work with street children at an After School Program or empower women and children at a local orphanage or shelter. Volunteers teach English, organize crafts and sports activities, and spend time giving children the individual attention they lack. Other projects offered include working with the disabled or elderly, as well as disadvantaged youth. A special project in Cai Cay, an indigenous village outside of Cusco, is also available for volunteers who stay in Cusco for four weeks or more.

 

1. After School Programs for Street Children Quest

Duration: minimum 1 week

Requirements: Basic Spanish

Though Cusco has all you could imagine for tourists, the economic situation leaves many children living and working on the streets. Work with a local Peruvian organization by helping kids with their homework, helping with leather purse-making workshops, teaching English (which is an essential work skill in Cusco), and organizing activities for street children. These children need you as mentors to keep them on track with schoolwork and help them learn work skills so that they can create a better life than they have now. No experience needed and only a basic level of Spanish is required. Ask about our different locations!

2. Women's Shelter Quest

Duration: minimum 1 month preferred

Requirements: Intermediate Spanish

Volunteers work with teenage mothers (from 12 to 18 yrs old) and their children in a home designed especially for them. The women come from the ‘campo’ and have a history of being subjected to abuse and violence. There is s a maximum of 17 women with one child, at present there are 11 mothers and 11 children. They live an average of 4 to 5 years in the house and are assigned there by a family court judge. This house is designed to give these women a better future. Their children are sent to school and receive after school homework classes with a teacher. The mothers receive two hours of classes per day from a private teacher. The women are also taught a trade: they work in an atelier connected to the house where they make different articles of fabric. Psychological counseling and health support are provided for them. For the smallest children there is a wawawasi. The nursery is also open to women in the neighborhood who don’t live in the house. They can leave their babies in the care of the house from 7 am to 7 pm. Volunteers are needed to help in the nursery and also help the older children with their homework, as well as support the mothers when needed.

3. Orphanage Quest

Duration: minimum 1 month

Requirements: Basic Spanish

Great for pediatricians, psychologists, nutritionists, teachers, as well as non-professionals! Work at a state orphanage for kids between the ages of 1 and 18. The children live and eat in 12 different houses where a substitute mother takes care of a maximum of 10 children and sends them to school. Volunteers assist the substitute mothers in taking care of the household, helping the children with their homework, and organizing workshops and recreational activities. This opportunity is open for all volunteers. The project also has various contacts in the small villages in the Cusco region, where medical services are provided for the children in their “centro social.” As a professional you can work in this “centro social.”

*Ask about our different locations! For professionals, please be sure to fill out the supplemental Medical Quest Application in addition to the regular Quest Application.

4. Juvenile Detention Center

Requirements: Intermediate to Advanced Spanish

Though Cusco has a great deal of activities for tourists, the economic situation leaves many Peruvian children living and working on the streets. You will have a chance to work with be a mentor for boys who have committed acts of violence, theft, or sexual assault. You will be able to use your skill set to create or participate in pre-existing projects and programs such as organizing workshops (shoe-making, furniture construction), helping the on-site psychologist (for psychology professionals), teaching dance classes or leading group activities such as various sports (especially soccer!).

5. Enriching the Lives of the Elderly

Requirements: Basic to Intermediate Spanish

This is a house for elderly in extreme poverty, a lot of them without any family to take care of them. Volunteer service consists of feeding, helping with bathing, organizing group dynamics activities as well as recreation. Their clothes, internal medical care and physiotherapy are also included in the care. There are two different areas in the house, one for the men one for the women. The elders are free to leave the house during the day. Geriatric specialists and physiotherapists encouraged to mobilize their skills in Peru!

6. Enriching the Lives of the Disabled

Requirements: Intermediate Spanish

You will be working with children and women with physical and mental disabilities. Volunteers normally assist with classes.

7. Special Option Quest to Cai Cay!

Duration: minimum 4 week stay

Requirements: Advanced Spanish

For those who wish to stay more than four weeks, you can stay and volunteer in Cai Cay, a remote village an hour outside of Cusco. The locals dress in traditional clothing and uphold much of the ancient culture. If you are looking to experience the rural culture of Peru this is a great option. The volunteer work here includes working with the children between the ages of 5 until 12 years old. You will be helping the children with their homework, giving lessons in English, and playing with them. You will also be teaching them to cultivate agriculturally in a sustainable way (no experience necessary). There is a small-scale garden to teach that cultivating ground can be self-supporting.