Volunteering

Before we get into our volunteering experiences, we thought we'd talk a little bit more about Venture with Impact - the whole reason that we are in Peru - since we didn't do any further explaining in our first post.

Venture with Impact is an organization that allows you to live, work (if you can), and volunteer abroad. Daniel and I are participating in the pilot program, which began on January 5th and ends on February 28th. Daniel is currently in between jobs and I took a leave of absence from Children's Mercy. (I am beyond grateful for my amazing boss and co-workers who allowed me to do this. I know you're reading this, so thank you again!)

Some of the Venture with Impact pilot program participants

Venture with Impact sets up your living situation, coordinates with the volunteer organizations to find a fit for your skills and interests, and also organizes weekend trips and fun things to do around town. It has been a great experience and we definitely could not have done this on our own! We also have met some amazing people through the program and are thankful to get to know people from a variety of backgrounds and who are here for the same reason as us.

And now, here is a glimpse into our first week volunteering with the organizations:

Kayla

On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, I volunteer with Espaanglisch to teach English to kids in a nearby community. The Trujillo Espaanglisch organization has partnered with 3 different schools in the area, and volunteers are currently helping with the summer school program that just started last week. Each class has two teachers (one who speaks Spanish) and about 25 kids who range from 7 to 13 years old. During the regular school year, the kids are only exposed to about 1 hour of English per week, but during the summer school program they have an English class 4 days of the week, so it's a great opportunity to teach them as much as possible!

My first class :)

So far, they have learned phrases like "My name is", "How are you", and various animals and classroom objects. It is absolutely adorable (and hilarious) watching them learn how to pronounce new words in English. Partly because the Spanish-speaking teachers/volunteers are from all over the world, so the kids are saying English words with a German or British accent. Peruvian children are very well-behaved and love to follow rules, ask for permission, and like to receive affirmation once they have completed an assignment. They are also very curious about the volunteers, and ask where I'm from, what I'm doing in Peru, and they are all very excited that I have a husband (and will get to meet him next week!).

Having fun drawing their animals!

Every day they have an English class for an hour and a half and then switch off between art and games for the other hour and a half. For their art classes, we were told to let them be as creative as possible because they are all perfectionists and struggle with creativity. So when the boys were all dipping their hands into the paint instead of using the sponges - we let them! For games, the point is to have them work together because they seem to rely on the teachers to tell them what to do all the time instead of figuring it out amongst themselves. Also, any game that involves standing next to someone or holding hands the kids CLING to me (as well as the other volunteers). I am used to teaching high schoolers, who basically want nothing to do with their teachers, so this makes my day! Another favorite part of my day is getting lots of little kisses on my cheek before and after class, as this is a typical greeting here :) It can't get any cuter than that!

The aftermath of the human knot game

I will start volunteering with another organization, Vive Peru, next week and will be organizing and teaching public health workshops. This was originally supposed to be the only organization that I was going to work with, but since Vive Peru didn't start until the end of January I had some free weeks and found out that I was able to help out with Espaanglisch as well. I am so thankful that it all worked out like that!

Daniel

I will be spending most of my volunteer time with an organization called Moche, which was founded by archeologists. Moche has formed partnerships with communities in the Moche Valley and carries out projects that the community identifies as their biggest need - clean water, roads, sanitary systems, etc. In turn the community respects the boundaries of the surrounding archeological sites and does not damage or build on them. A win-win!

Exploring one of the many archeological sites located throughout the Moche Valley

Myself and another Venture With Impact participant (Ali, a mechanical engineer) will be working the the community "Jesus Maria" to help change the source of where they obtain their drinking water: from an open stream that has unclean, sandy, muddy water, to an underground well located higher up in the Andes Mountains that will provide them with naturally filtered drinking water.

The view from the community of Jesus Maria 

During my time here, myself and Ali will be surveying the area with equipment that was donated to Moche, and we will draft a set of plans for the leaders of Jesus Maria to take to the Peruvian municipalities so that they can get approval to build the water system, and hopefully some funding.

At the location where Jesus Maria currently gets their drinking water 

The people of Jesus Maria are extremely welcoming to volunteers. The director told me that sometimes she leaves with a huge crate of fruit after a long day of work, and the community members invited us to "sodas" on our first day! Getting invited to sodas is a sign of gratitude that consists of being invited to a house or nearby restaurant to partake in drinking Coca Cola, Inca Cola or the preferred soda of choice. Even though the people of Jesus Maria have way less than I can fathom and are lacking basic needs, they are so giving and loving, and I can't wait to be around them more. I will definitely learn a lot from them in my time here :)

Trekking our way through the sugar cane fields

So that is what I will be doing for the next 2 months! Our goal is to at least have the set of plans ready for Jesus Maria by the time we leave in late February, and hopefully I can be there to present the plans with Moche to the government. If things go absolutely perfect and the project gets approved, I really hope that we can help the community build the water system! Check out their website at www.savethemoche.org.

Besides Moche, I will also be starting a little volunteer work with Vive Peru at the end of January, and I will be heading a soccer camp once or twice a week for 6-9 year olds, and 10-12 year olds. Definitely looking forward to that!