We officially arrived yesterday in Cusco, excited and anxious to begin our volunteer experience in the community. We started the trip with a quick tour, volunteer orientation and a warm meal of soup, chicken, rice and bananas with chocolate. It was amazing to get a quick glimpse of the city, with its many cathedrals, and nooks and crannies full of wonder. We were exhausted from our two-day journey to Cusco, and fell into bed asleep at the end of the night. So what brought the 11 of us here? Here's a little background about our immersion:
Our Alternative Winter Break experience focuses on childhood development and poverty in Cusco, Peru. We will provide support to educational institutions that assist underprivileged children in the indigenous Quechua community. Beyond the well-preserved Inca walls, a large percentage of the children in the city are forced into labor or left behind as their parents travel into the lowlands seeking employment. Abuse, illiteracy and neglect are common, and early childhood malnutrition affects over a quarter of the children in Cusco, most of who arrive from poverty-stricken Quechua communities.
Our Issue
Our service projects are caregiving and educational in nature. We will serve local initiatives targeted at providing disadvantaged children emotional and social support. Three of us will work at a center dedicated to the nutritional rehabilitation of malnourished children. Most of the children are 3 to 5 years old and come from poor families living in the outskirts of Cusco. Another five volunteers will serve in after school care centers. The centers have classrooms where the children receive preparatory education for grade school. We will work with teachers to help create more interactive and student-centered learning environments. We hope to bring enthusiasm to class activities, and engage the children to help them learn and stay motivated. Lastly, three of our teammates will volunteer at a local sports center and assist in entertaining and organizing athletic activities for the local children.
Our service projects are caregiving and educational in nature. We will serve local initiatives targeted at providing disadvantaged children emotional and social support. Three of us will work at a center dedicated to the nutritional rehabilitation of malnourished children. Most of the children are 3 to 5 years old and come from poor families living in the outskirts of Cusco. Another five volunteers will serve in after school care centers. The centers have classrooms where the children receive preparatory education for grade school. We will work with teachers to help create more interactive and student-centered learning environments. We hope to bring enthusiasm to class activities, and engage the children to help them learn and stay motivated. Lastly, three of our teammates will volunteer at a local sports center and assist in entertaining and organizing athletic activities for the local children.
Our goal will also be to communicate with the children in a way that broadens their view about different people and places. Infrastructure problems, insufficient number of qualified teachers, overcrowded classes and shortage of educational materials continue to negatively impact the quality of children’s education in the city of Cusco. Our involvement will help support resource-poor kindergartens and an elementary school for children from local Quechua communities plagued by chronic poverty.
As a group, we will also unite to work in a construction project at a local elementary school. We will be connecting with a local community members to repair and restore vital areas of the building. We we also be painting classrooms and fixing the deteriorating bathrooms in the school.
So, today we will begin our service-learning experience. Stay tuned for more!
- Ana and Lily
No comments:
Post a Comment