. Bruce Peru Lima:
"Villa Maria" Children's Centre
Volunteer vacancies:
volunteers: 2 longstay |
Introduction.....................Villa Maria Photo Album
'Villa MARIA' CHILDREN'S CENTRE is in the Villa Maria community of the 'Cono Sur' slums on the south side of Lima, Peru. Our aim is to give aid and support to the children of the families (mostly ababndoned mothers) who squatted this sandy mountain in the late '90s. The original squatters were ejected twice before they finally overcame resistance from the Limal authorities and formed a makeshift community on the steep sandy slopes. In the ensuing years they have built shacks, some of which have been improved into simple brick houses. But there is no electricity, water or school. Some electricity is rented privately from a community in the valley below, but water has to be trucked up the mountain twice a week. Bruce Peru have agreed to provide basic education until a school can be built.
The Villa Maria Children's Centre is housed in the home of our
director - she lives with her daughter in another house, and so has
dedicated her own home to be our school.
A marvelous feature of
Villa Maria is tht the houses do not have locks - in Lima a city famous
for its crime rate. How can this be? Villa Maria was formed by a group
ofAndean peasants all known to one another. When they finally succeeded in
posessing the land they bonded into a community; everyone looks out for
everyone else. It is isolated from the rest of Lima, the only road
climbing up the mountain to Villa Maria has a gate and a guard. It may be
a shanty town to the ourside world, but to its residents it has as much
community spirit as any community on earth.
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Many children do
not attend school in Villa Maria, due to one or mor of three
reasons: the nearest school is too far away, extreme poverty (even
attending free school in Peru costs about $110 a year), abandonment
or parental abuse (children of poor parents often are made to work
instead of attending school) Our primary goal is to
get as many children into school as possible, and this involves
encouraging learning, talking to parents and in some cases
purchassing uniforms and school books. We also are prepared to
educate those children who cannot get into state
schools. |
What to expect as a Volunteer:Your Job at 'Villa MARIA CHILDREN'S CENTRE' will involve:
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Accomodation & food costs:We ask a fee from our volunteers to keep our work going. The money goes to pay for the bills, meals, and the cost of the social worker, cook and secretary, as well as maintenance of the Children's Centre- also to promote the opening of other Children's Centres in Peru. This fee includes accommodation 7 days per week and 3 meals a day, 5 days a week.
To read more about Peru click HERE |
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Besides these activities, we welcome new ideas to make our project most effective for the children. Volunteering at Bruce Peru Lima can be a tiring but immensely rewarding experience. You should be able to cope with big groups of street children demanding a lot of attention and enthusiasm. You will have to be a team worker, working together with PeruVillan and international volunteers. In the centre you will be a representative of the project and are expected to be responsible and behave as an example for the children. What you do in your free time outside the centre is up to you.
Volunteering at 'Villa MARIA' is a fantastic way of getting to know Peru, of improving your Spanish, and above all, of interacting with the community and with the children of the city in a positive and helpful way.
The Region:
More than 400 years ago, the Spanish
conqueror ("conquistador") Francisco Pizarro named Lima the City of the
Kings ("Ciudad de los Reyes"). Nowadays, that same city, which rose from
the lands of the native chief Taulischusco, is a metropolis of over 7
million people who proudly preserve the colonial convents and mansions
which are symbols of their ancient and noble traditions. Lima, capital of
Peru, founded on January 18, 1535, is a modern city which, while
constantly expanding, has also managed to maintain the elegance of its
Historic Center. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Center, due to the large
number of artistic monuments found there, Historic Lima is an enchanting
haven of a period long gone.
The Programme:
The Children's Centre is located in a 2 room house at the edge of
a small precipice. It has no water or electricity, but classes are in the
mornings when there is always light, and we bring in buckets of water. Our
international volunteers leave Miraflores at 8:AM and are in class
teaching the children by 9:AM. Children attend the centre between 9 AM and
12:30 PM, (ending with lunch). Durting the morning volunteers and local
teachers organise a range of classes, workshops and activities: including
English, reading, writing, maths, art, music, science, sport and drama.
Groups are divided up according to age or ability. None of these children
go to school, so an important aspect of our program is teaching them group
discipline and study habits. We regularly plan trips outside the centre,
to play football and other games and activities..
The Language School:
In the evenings English-speaking and French-speaking volunteers give English and French classes to adults in our Miraflores campus in Lima (where also our international volunteers live). The small donation our language students make is a contribution to the work of the Satellite Children's Centres.. Our students know that their tuition goes towards our work with the children and enables us to participate in the activities and expenses of the Children's Centre and our volunteers. Volunteers are therefore obliged to give at least one class per night to maintain our Language School.Spanish classes are offered for free to all our volunteers.
