Volunteer Bruce Peru, help street children in LI<A. Bruce Miraflores: Main Campus

Bruce Miraflores, Main Campus - Volunteer Lima

Volunteer vacancies: volunteers: 5 longstay
15 normal term (1 - 3 months duration).
Apr 05: 12 vacancies
May 05 - June 05: 10 vacancies
On line Application

Introduction

BRUCE MIRAFLORE'S's main campus is near the heart of Miraflores, and three blocks from the beach. It is in a safe neighborhood, with a guard stationed right in front. It can comfortably house 14 volunteers, a cleaner/security person, thee class rooms and an office. We got it at a good price - for Lima - because it needed plastering, painting and some repairs (all of which we have done). Within a week we had it furnished and ready to begin receiving resident volunteers.

Bruce MirafloresThe Bruce Miraflores Campus occupies a two story house in the best part of Lima. A neighborhood both safe and fun for our volunteers to live and work in.

This centre will be the hub of our programme in Lima and its surrounding barrios. It will serve as residence for our international volunteers, our Lima office plus a language school at night - the latter hopefully will pay much of the cost of conducting our programme for the poorest children in Lima's barrios.

Bruce via Maria
SIDE GARDEN

Many children who live in Lima's barrios are not attending school due to one or mor of three reasons: the nearest school is too far away, extreme poverty (even attending free school costs about $110 a year), abandonment or parental abuse (children of poor parents often are made to work instead of attending school) 2/5s of the countrie's out-of-school children live in the Capital's barrios. Our primary goal is to get as many of these children into school as possible, and we also are prepared to educate those children whom we cannot get into state schools.
 Who do we need?
We are looking for volunteers to join our organisation who are interested in working with children and (preferably) have some knowledge of Spanish . Volunteers stay for as long as they like – although we ask for a minimum of 1 month (three months for 2 female volunteers) – to live either in the orphanage or else in home stay accommodation.

What to expect as a Volunteer:

Your Job at 'Bruce Miraflores Campus' will involve:
  • Teaching children
  • Team working
  • Sport activities
  • Recreation activities
  • Teaching English to adults, evening hours (at the Lima campus.)
  • Promotion work in Lima.
Our partners in the Lima Centre, Kinder Zon
Our partners in the Lima Centre............Side view from the street

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 LAtin America. This fee includes accommodation 7 days per week and 3 meals a day, 5 days a week.
First 3 months $290 a month
Second 3 months $200 a month
Third 3 months $150 a month
After 1 Year $100 a month

Besides these activities, we welcome new ideas to make our project most effective for the children. Volunteering at Bruce Miraflores 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 local 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 'BRUCE Miraflores' is a fantastic way of getting to know the country, 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:

Lima - City of KingsMore than 400 years ago, the Spanish conqueror ("conquistador") Francisco Pizarro named this 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. The capital of a nation, 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:

Bruce Via MariaFrom our house in Miraflores our international volunteers will venture forth at 8:AM and be in classin a barrio 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.