Volunteering

---

I spent 2 weeks volunteering with the ¨Traveller not Tourist¨ charity at the Chachani School. Chachani is located on the outskirts of Arequipa (the second largest city in Peru). Overlooking the school are two live volcanoes, Misty and Chachani. The volunteers run english classes for 75mins a day and organise playtime for 45mins. Chachani is run as an additional form of education on top of the normal schooling the children should receive... however because most are living in poverty often the children have to work for their families instead of going to school. The students are between the ages of 2 and 12 and we only teach english. In peru student usually learn english in high school so these student are getting a head start.

The primary income of the people living in the Chachani region seems to be mining of sand from the local mountains. Everyday the landscape changes as minor explosives are used to loosen rocks and cause landslides. Workers often the fathers of the students risk their lives to earn the tiny amount paid for the harvested and purified sand. The wives are often seen using seives to separate stones from the sand. Many crosses litter the top of these mountain worksites to mourn those lost in explosions and land slides.

The children themselves are vivacious and happy, often waiting for the teachers at the bus stop. I caught a public bus for an 2 hours return each day, paying 1.40 soles, about 70 aussie cents. The public buses are just minivans crammed with heaps of people. One day a man was carrying a bag full of puppies on the bus!

Two classes were run in the one small classroom simultaneously, the 2-6 age group and the 6+ age group. Lessons had a weekly theme, my first week we taught vocab and sentences around the theme of hobbies and passtimes. In addition to helping with the classes I prepared puzzle games for the children and initiated a kite making activity... which was basically plastic bags tied with strings. The kites were a huge hit and the wind on the mountains was perfect for flying. I have some great photos, refer to on the 9 pages of photos attached.
The second week was Christmas theme, we taught vocab and sentences surrounding Christmas in addition to teaching christmas songs.

Classes were often difficult to run because the class room was only 4x4m with sometimes 30 children, and often the local stray dogs would come in and cause havoc too. One day a poor student was peed on by one of the more persistant and irritating dogs! However the week i left 3 other classrooms were almost completed... so space at least should no longer be a problem.

The experience overall was fantastic and helped my own spanish immensely. The children were beautiful and the volunteers fantastic. I lived in the volunteer house with 15 other people from all over the world and we all shared the goal and passion of helping these amazing children.

---