Spanish Courses & Volunteering
in Peru

Spanish Courses and Volunteering in Peru

This programme combines Spanish lessons and voluntary work in social institutions. Volunteering offers a unique possibility to experience the country, its culture and population from the inside while doing a meaningful job. Volunteers must be independent, open-minded and minimum 18 years old. The school has three locations, in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. You can switch from one country to another at any time, depending on vacancies. After your Spanish course you can choose to volunteer in any of these three countries.

You can of course also choose to follow Spanish lessons without volunteering.

The International Language School

The school occupies a beautiful 19th century colonial building on a small plaza right behind one of the most important sites from pre-Colombian Cusco, the Qorikancha (Temple of the Sun).

There are 17 classrooms on two floors with a sunny indoor patio, video room, auditorium for fifty students, entertainment room, cafeteria, and wireless Internet access for students. The school is conveniently located next to the main post office, internet cafes, banks, currency exchange, restaurants and historical buildings.

It is about four blocks from the main square, the Plaza de Armas, a great place to people-watch and observe Cusco’s city life. Your host family will show you the way to school on your first day, always a Monday. You will receive a briefing about school facilities, home stay, language program, cultural information, dos and don’ts and a city tour of Cusco.

Our projects in Peru

Orphanage

This organisation started to operate in Cusco in 1997. Their aim is to protect the rights and interests of children in need. Boys and girls, who have been abandoned or who are at risk are provided with a safe home at a centre where staffs take on a family role to provide a caring environment for them. Wherever possible, the organisation tries to reintegrate the children with their families, however, when this is not possible, they also seek adoptive families for them. The children’s ages are from newborn up to ten years. Due to the young age of the children at the home, you will be extremely busy throughout the day!

Activities will include some or all of the following:

• Bathing, changing and clothing the babies and children
• Feeding babies and helping at meal times
• Playing with the babies to provide an early stimulation and learning
• Arranging fun activities such as arts and crafts with the slightly older ones
• Taking the children for walks
• Provide love and affection

Working hours are from 7.30 am to 12.30 am and from 2.30 pm to 7 pm.

Kindergarten in rural community

The kindergarten provides a safe place for around 35 children, aged 3 to 5, and has very little resources. Therefore you will need to be creative and invent activities that do not require too much material! The children simply love the attention you can give so prepared to be patient and busy! Your tasks will include some or all of the following:

• Playing games
• Singing songs
• Dancing and music
• Arts and crafts
• Sports
• Organizing parties
• Assisting with educational lessons
• Helping at meal times
• Teaching personal hygiene
• Supervising during breaks
• Helping with homework

You will usually work in the mornings, Monday to Friday, with weekends off. The kindergarten can be reached by bus. The holiday periods are January and February and mid-March, mid-December and last week of July and first week of August.

Nursery and Primary School

This nursery and primary school was created by the international Language School and is attended by children from poor families. The children are aged from 4 to 13. The educational structure is based on grade levels. There are currently over 55 children attending, although numbers are constantly growing.
Volunteers work from Monday to Friday from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm. It’s important that volunteers joining this project are motivated and creative and able to use their own initiative. Duties will vary and may include some or all of the following:

• Preparing breakfast and keeping the kitchen clean
• Teaching the older children
• Helping the children with their homework
• Checking and correcting homework
• Playing with the children
• Organizing fun and educational activities

Medical Volunteers

This is about lending a hand to understaffed, under resourced medical centres and knowing you are making a real difference and gaining medical experience in an environment very different to your home country. The health care in Peru is one of the most underfunded in South America. Lack of resources and funds, poor management of resources and lack of medical knowledge makes it all worse. We are working with a number of clinics, which aim is to provide medical care to underprivileged children and adults. These people cannot afford to pay for private health care and their medical conditions would go untreated if it weren’t for these clinics. The two medical clinics provide the following services:

General medicine, Obstetrics, Gynaecology, Physiotherapy, Rehabilitation, Psychology, Ophthalmology, Andean Medicine, Dentistry, X-ray, Clinical Laboratory, Pharmacy and a Kindergarten.

Your duties will vary depending upon your medical experience, but we welcome both medically and non-medically trained volunteers. You will observe and assist doctors and nurses in the above-mentioned medical areas, getting hands on practical experience if you are qualified. You will also be able to help in the pharmacy with classifying and sorting medicines, as well as learning about and assisting with Andean medicine made from plants and herbs.

Parochial Health Center in Wimpillay

Et katolsk sogn arbejder fra samme bygning med sundhedskampagner og lægebesøg, sammen med frivillige. Sundhedscentret tilbyder tandlægebehandlinger og fødselshjælp.

Patienterne modtager gratis medicin eller betaler en meget lille pris. Medicinen fås enten i form af gratisprøver fra industrien eller bliver betalt med donationer. Laboratoriet har et røntgenapparat og basal udstyr til blod- og urin analyser.

Arbejdstider er fra kl.08.00 til 13.00 og fra 15.00 til 19.30, mandag til fredag. Frivilliges aktiviteter er afhængige af færdigheder og spansk niveau. Du hjælper centrets ansatte i deres daglige aktiviteter og tilbyder assistance i nogle af de følgende områder:

• Gynækologiske sygdomme
• Odontologi
• Psykologisk obstetrik
• Rehabilitering
• Fysioterapi
• Ultralydsscanninger
• Oftalmologi
• Klinisk laboratorium
• Apotek
• ”Andes-medicin”

Andre opgaver kan være at hjælpe børnene med deres lektier på biblioteket fra 15.30 til 18.30 eller at hjælpe i haven. Minimum arbejdsperiode er 4 uger. Arbejdstiden er fra mandag – fredag fra 8 til 12 eller fra 14.30 til 18.30. Det tager bussen 20 minutter at komme fra Cusco til Wimpillay.

Health Center Huancarani

The rural village of Huancarcani is located in one of six districts of Paucartambo province, at two hours drive through winding cliffs to the elevated and isolated village at 3,800 feet. The village’s economy is one of the poorest of the 1,831 municipalities in Peru. The parents of the children survive with $30 a month. The medical staff are doctors, nurses and midwifes, that come from Cusco every week.

There is one ambulance and two pickup trucks for transportation of patients or medical staff to the communities. It is a home and clinic, built similar to the homes in the communities as indigenous women are afraid of hospitals. The women stay a few weeks before they give birth to their children. Some women spend at least 2 weeks in the home-clinic and take their little children and animals along because they don’t have a place to leave them. On the second floor there is a small apartment with kitchen, dining room, 2 bedrooms for the medical and volunteer staff that need to stay overnight. Some cook themselves; some prefer to eat that restaurant in the village. A complete meal costs approx. $5. There is a place to rest and shower with cold water for volunteers at the “centro de Salud”. There is a lot of work for volunteers and interns at this health center as mothers and children also come to have their monthly medical control. The medical staff also organizes health campaigns while visiting the communities. They promote birth control, the use of condoms and birth control pills.

Working days are from Monday to Friday 8 am. to 6 pm. with 1 hour lunch break. During weekends you can return to Cusco, which is 2 hours away buy public bus. Volunteers can have a more flexible schedule, like working 4 days at the center and then stay 3 days in Cusco. This is a great project for medical Interns!

Disabled Children and Adults

This is about providing support and attention to a group of people who are often forgotten in the Peruvian society.
You can get involved in a variety of activities from teaching, to assisting with physical therapy.

There are two centres that provide assistance to children and adults with mental and physical disabilities. Unfortunately, in Peru, as in many other developing countries, people with such illnesses are often forgotten as their families do not have the resources or knowledge to provide the care that is needed. The staffs work hard to allow these people to become integrated into society.

One of the centres cares only for children and here, one of the most important activities taking place is education and vocational workshops. You will assist in these classes and by providing the children with new skills. It will improve their future prospects and enable them to earn money through employment. Without the help of the project, this would be impossible for these children as there is very little alternative help available.

The second centre cares for around 80 children and adults who are living with conditions such as Downs Syndrome, autism and multiple disabilities. The institution does not receive any governmental support and is sustained through the dedication of the staff and from donations from the public and from volunteers. Help is needed with the following activities:

• Taking the patients for a walk
• Assisting medical staff with therapy, exercise and rehabilitation
• Helping with feeding at meal times
• Cooking and cleaning
• Working in the vegetable garden

You will usually work either in the mornings or the afternoons, but any extra time you can dedicate to the projects will be appreciated. You will have weekends free.

Home for the Elderly

There is a home for senior citizens established in 1981 after a Peruvian citizen donated her house for this cause. Elderly people are no longer able to look after themselves and sadly neither are their families.

Volunteers choosing to work at the home for senior citizens will be involved in some or all of the following:

• Organizing entertainment, such as singing and dancing
• Accompanying the elderly people on walks
• Assisting the nursing staff with basic medical duties such as taking blood pressure
• Motivating the patients to participate in stimulating activities such as games and discussions
• Helping with therapy and massage
• Supporting the staff with the cleaning and up-keep of the centre, including gardening

Your hours will vary depending upon at which placement you are based, however you will work either mornings or afternoons Monday to Friday, and have weekends free to spend as you wish.

Community Outreach

There are a number of projects that are dedicated to providing support to disadvantaged communities. One of the massive challenges the projects are trying to overcome is breaking the intergenerational transference of poverty. The initiatives aim to promote and provide access to services of quality education, health, nutrition and identity.

One of the projects with which we work provides a small monetary contribution through sponsorship to homes with pregnant mothers, widowed fathers, elderly people and foster parents who have children below the age of 14 under their care. The project works hard to help educate parents, for example ensuring their children attend school, ensuring they attend medical clinics once a month with children under the age of 3 years, teaching them how to provide a decent standards of living, and showing them how to register their children so they are recognized as Peruvian citizens.

One of the other projects is heavily focused on a reading initiative and has street libraries that provide teaching and knowledge to some of the poorest children in the area. Our third project reaches out to children and teenagers and provides a safe place for them to go during the day, as well as snacks, psychological support for children (and parents), and technical training for young high school graduates.

Your role as a volunteer will include some or all of the following:

• Accompanying coordinators to assess whether parents are taking their children to school, getting them registered as citizens, attending health clinics and providing a safe and hygienic standard of living
• Playing with children
• Checking homework
• Reading with children
• Organizing creative activities

Volunteers must be able to commit to at least 4 weeks at the project in order to build up a trusting relationship with the children and staff.

Football school

An exciting opportunity for active individuals with a smile and a love for children. Volunteers can now work with children, teaching soccer skills and the enjoyment of an active lifestyle! If soccer is your passion, these children are more than ready to share it with you! As a volunteer, you will be able to help run the soccer programs, teach physical education and run a training program for children aged 6 to 12. High energy, hands on, and highly rewarding.

During January and February, lessons are from 08.00 to 13.00 o’clock. During the rest of the year from 16.00 to 18.00 o’clock. You can combine soccer school with volunteering part time at other institutions.

Symphony Orchestra

The orchestra consists of 40 musicians from Cusco. Performances are during the evenings in beautiful colonial churches, museums or plazas. The musicians practice about 3 hours every day, either in the morning or in the afternoon. If you are studying music and do you have reasonable good level or are you professional, you are welcome to join in.

This option can be easily combined with Spanish lessons.

Clínica Peruano Suiza

This is a Private Clinic that provides the opportunity to medical interns to share experiences and daily routines with Peruvian Professionals in the medical field. It is located in Cusco, about 40 minutes walking from the Academiaorin and 10 minutes with public transportation.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Medical professional or student
• Minimum 4 weeks of internship
• Be very responsible, flexible with schedules, tolerance and very respectful with and show courtesy and
• respect to colleagues and patients
• Spanish level required: High Intermediate level

DAILY VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES:

• Patient transfer support in both ambulances and their rooms
• Transfer of patients to X-rays or other rooms
• Support or help doctors and nurses when needed
• Make materials with the nurse
• Participate in the daily visits with doctors and nurses every morning or afternoon for daily reports
• Help patients to eat, change clothes, make beds, shower, etc.
• Help translate into Spanish when there are foreign patients
• Teach medical English to colleagues and administration during free time

Interns can work half time, mornings or afternoons or full time, depending on the number of hours required by your university. Schedules can be: From 8:00 a.m. to 13:00 p.m. and/or 16:00 to 20:00 p. m from Monday to Friday. Inters can also work on Saturdays.

Interns will always be with professionals and will never act alone in any case as they are not professional in the medical field. Some days will be very busy and others may not.

Bring warm clothes. Remember Cusco is at 3.400 meters above sea level. Rainy season from November to March. During summer warm days but chilly early morning and nights.

Internships

If you are interested in an internship feel free to send an e-mail to [email protected] and specify which kind of educational background you have and what kind of work you are looking for. Almost all possibilities are open! Please note, that there’s an USD 150 internship fee.

Language Courses in Peru

Tuition
On the first school day a placement test is taken and an evaluation made by the student and the school. Results of the test are taken into consideration along with the available time in Peru in order to create the most profitable customized program. Courses start each Monday, all year round and you may enrol for as many weeks as you wish.

Classes last 60 minutes, 4 hours a day, with a maximum of four students per class and an average of two.The teaching methods used are based upon the four language skills: listening, grammar, oral and written comprehension. No English should be used in class. You can choose between the following types of courses:

• Intensive Spanish and culture
  This program consists of 20 Spanish lessons per week. Lessons take place during the morning. Students will find a daily schedule of cultural events in Cusco and surrounding areas, locations of theatres, museums and festivals. Home stay with a Peruvian host family makes language learning easier and also gives you an insight into a typical family’s daily routine. In this way the programme offers a mixture of language and culture that not only guarantees a solid language background but also an understanding and knowledge of the country’s culture, politics and social conditions. Students are in classes 4 hours a day, with a maximum of 5 students per class and an average of two. There is a weekly progress evaluation. The teaching methods are based on the four language skills: listening, grammar, oral and written comprehension.
• Super intensive course
  If you want to make quick progress, you can choose to add 10 individual lessons per week during the afternoon. These lessons will focus on your personal needs.
• One to one tuition
  This course is for students who cannot stay long and want to make quick progress. Choose between 20 or 30 individual lessons per week.

Activities
Outings and activities are organised 2 or 3 times a week. This can be shorter trips in Cusco as well as longer trips outside Cusco. Trips outside town cost 10-25 US dollars per person and normally include bus transport and food. The activities organised at school can be tourist information, parties, cooking hours, games, video presentations etc.
Please note that you may need to pay “out-of-pocket” expenses (bus fare, entrance fees, etc.).

Host families/Home stays
Families belong to Peru’s middle class, but be aware that living standards in Peru are generally lower than in Europe or North America. Family homes are in neighbourhoods usually no more than 10 minutes by bus from school and families take a maximum of three students at a time. You will need to be flexible to adjust to the Peruvian customs and way of life with your host family.

You will receive two meals a day (breakfast and lunch). Please note that in Peru lunch is the main meal, whilst dinner is more of a light snack, for example coffee and crackers. You will share a bathroom and laundry service will be provided by your host family once a week. Extra home stay time is possible, although we would ask you to try to arrive on Sunday before classes start and leave on Saturday when they finish.

If you prefer to be the only student accommodated with your host family, please state this on your enrolment form. Your host family will pick you up from Cusco airport upon arrival and show you the way to school next Monday. Your first day at school the oral and written language test will decide in which class you will follow lessons. After the test there’s a city tour and briefing. There’s no teaching first Monday.