Peru - 2009

It was in the city of Huancayo that four BWV members collaborated with Expand Peru in 2009, for the realisation of several development projects. In the morning, volunteers would dedicate their time to different programs, such as hospital assistance, daycare, and English teaching in a local elementary school. Every afternoon, the volunteers worked on Proyecto Casa, a family improvement and afterschool program for children in Sanos, a poor, agricultural district. At Proyecto Casa, BWV members offered tutoring for students of all ages, assisting with writing, reading comprehension, and mathematics. Since Proyecto Casa was also a family improvement program, volunteers monitored the children’s physical, mental, and emotional conditions. If there was an indication that a student’s home life was causing attention difficulties, poor or unacceptable behaviour, or that a child was not receiving sufficient alimentation on a daily basis, Proyecto Casa would arrange an unnotified visit to the home of that student. The purpose of these visits was to get a realistic representation of how the family lived, including what/how they eat, what the sleeping arrangements were like, where the parents worked, and how they would provide for their children. When needed, the volunteer would provide a few basic necessities to those families most in need, such as rice, bread, milk, and clothing. Although Proyecto Casa was focused highly on homework and afterschool activities, several children were left with nothing to do for at least an hour before going home, once homework was finished. BWV members designed and implemented an art program at Proyecto Casa, which included painting, drawing, beading, or crafting. The art workshops were extremely successful, and the volunteers found ways to recycle materials to use for the art program. Volunteers noted that children completed their homework more diligently because they were eager to work on their art project before going home.

In this photo: Alizé Carrère