Developing World Connections - Volunteering in Peru

Our team leader Cindy had us lived a unique and fantastic experience in Peru. More specifically at the San Jose Obrero school, where everyone was so welcoming and friendly. The kids were simply amazing, so lively and happy to chat with us all the time. The school is located in a very poor neighborhood but one would not think that from the atmosphere at the school.

We also had the opportuity to visit around Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu. Wish we would have had more time to experience the peruvian culture and delicious food.

I would not hesitate to do it again. Loved it.

My husband and I went to Peru as part of volunteer program that his company has with Developing World Connections; it was my first time to be a volunteer and also be in Peru, since the moment I started with the process I was so excited and I had many expectations. I enjoyed working with wonderful team, learning about construction, meeting amazing people in the school, interacting with children and families. My husband was a Coordinator in the group and he did an amazing job and we also had an extraordinary Team Leader (Joshua) he is so kind, friendly, fun and wonderful leader. It was an awesome experience.

Developing World Connections does an incredible job of organizing meaningful trips & there is always someone available to answer any of your questions! Volunteering through DWC has been so life changing! I was Team Leader to DWC’s volunteer trip to Peru in the summer of 2016 & had previously went on their trip to Guatemala 2 years prior. It is not only a great opportunity to make meaningful friendships with those that are part of your team, but also gives you a chance to put your life into perspective & understand the significance of connecting with those that have a different background from yourself. Being of service puts one in touch with the needs of humanity and helps one understand that changing the world is a community effort. If you are interested in developing connections & doing meaningful & life-changing work, I highly recommend going on a DWC volunteer trip!

The all round trip was turly amazing and enspiering. Getting up everyday and going to the site where everyone is always so happy and excited to great and work with your for the day. Seeing all the children coming to the site and hiding and day by day they would slowing start showing them selves some more. I couldn't have asked for a better first trip. The only downside was not beig able to work a full day and then having last minute plans that we don't really know what is going on.

I had an incredible experience in Lima! Leading a volunteer trip is an absolutely incredible learning experience, and AMAZING to put on a resume. It's not easy, and the time commitment necessary to recruit, build and lead a team is significant, but well worth it.

Volunteering with DWC is a great experience. You feel like you really contribute to the betterment of a community. We worked in a severly impoverished area where there was a lot of malnutrition and we constructed an addition to the school which was a new kitchen, dining room and workshop. It took us about a month to do. Everyday tasks were getting lunch ready in the morning, taking an hour combie ride to the worksite then getting started. We did all the hammering, sawing, nailing.. manual labor basically. I learned to build a wall and reinforce it, to cement (the South American way) and we also puttied, primed and painted the building. Beyond the work we did, we got to hang out with some amazing kids. Even with the language barrier, it was still so fun to goof around with them or just help the mothers in the kitchen by taking their little ones off their hands while they prepared a meal for over a hundred kids. We played soccer and sang and learned some Spanish! We got to live in a hostel with our whole group where we became a family. We cooked or went out for dinner. We toured around Lima and we went to a place called Huacachina for the weekend, where we went dune buggying!
There were some challenges along the way. The language barrier is the most pronounced. If you can learn some Spanish before you go, it'll be worth it! Getting around by local transit can be a challenge aswell, we mostly just walked around our neighbourhood or had other Peruvians if we were going out somewhere different. The work at the school is very tiring and can be a little slow moving, and you have to remember that we are providing a service and things may not go as planned. There were days we were all very frustrated by the way things were going but you just need to be patient and have an open mind. If you do, you will have the most amazing experience! I knew most of the people on my trip but I did meet a few others and that was pretty amazing too. You get such a great opportunity and learn to love to share it with new people.
My trip to Peru was pretty unbelievable, if you have this opportunity.. take it!

The bottom line is that I could not think of a better way to have complimented my degree than by experiencing a developing country. I believe DWC did a great job preparing us and setting us up with a unique host partner, IFEJANT. Our trip included 4 work weeks at the volunteer site- an elementary school called San Jose Obrero. All 9 of us participants were University students, though DWC offers several programs for all ages.
We worked approximately 7-hour days from Monday to Friday in a very poor barrio known as Villa Maria del Triunfo. It was such a learning experience for all of us to drive from our hostel in a middle income neighborhood to one of seemingly endless dirt hills, and unsafe water. We additionally had the opportunity to talk to some of the brains behind the 'working children' movement, including the wise theologian Alejandro Cussianovich. Their philosophies power the school we worked at, along with funding from several NGO's. Even though our communication with the locals in the community was extremely limited due to the language barrier, we began to see and learn that close to half of the children were malnourished, and half also worked after school to supplement their family's income. Their great need became obvious.
The most beautiful part of the village was the locals' smiles and energy, even though they were living in dirt. Our project was not without frustrations, but playing soccer and interacting with the kids daily undoubtedly outweighed the difficulties. Our $500 donation (on top of trip costs) payed for the lumber and supplies for our construction project. Though money is a common issue for students, our donation did not quite cover all of the supply costs. The trip could not really have cost any less.
Our constant lifting, hammering, sanding, painting, roofing, and valiantly attempting to talk to the locals yielded 3 much needed rooms- a kitchen, dining room and workshop (for working kids).
The volunteers from the year prior gave us a list of 'what not to forget' before our trip, so most of us were very well prepared. While the food was generally very good and some of us got to try some delicacies such as guinea pig, the majority of us did not feel well at one point or another.
The social scene was outstanding, and we all agreed that we had so much fun. Though Lima is not super touristy, we made our own fun! Casa Rodas, the hostel that hosted us was unbelievably hospitable and affordable. They made breakfast for us daily.
We had to be motivated and driven to finish because there was a time crunch at the end of the 4 weeks. The 9 of us worked so well together, and everyone had their strengths. The ability to 'laugh it off' should not be forgotten at home for such a cultural experience, and indeed we had some great laughs along the way.
The mayor and local heads visited and saw how important our work was and made donations to the school, even pledging more donations in the future for the entire community. Though half of us stayed in Peru a bit longer to see more of its beautiful people and vistas, each of us left Villa Maria filled with pride of what we had built. The 9 of us feel like we really did something great, developed worldly connections, and we miss it all!

Developing world connections lives up to its name. In this program lots of connections are made. In our trip to Peru, nine volunteers managed to establish a connection with each other, the locals and simply the world. The experience is none to other and it goes beyond creating a connection. A sense of accomplishment and purposefulness is also established from this program.Commuting for an hour everyday to Villa Maria, a village just out of Lima, we spent a month working with a local school that supports working children movement. As foreigners, the movement seemed absurd but after living with the children and learning about the movement from the founder,it all felt right. Opening our eyes to this movement that sounds completely unacceptable in our society and understanding its true purpose was truly an eye-opener. Talking to the founder of the movement and having informative sessions with the foundation was truly a highlight of the trip. Our work with the San Jose obrero school in Villa Maria was to build them a kitchen, a workshop and a dining room for the children of the school. This project wasn't without its physical and mental challenges. Being clueless about building and all that it encompasses was quite the challenge. Hammering,building walls and painting was not an everyday activity that we thought we could be doing.Furthermore, the program didn't inform the volunteers of the project until when onsite. To top it of, the language barrier was at its peak.We had locals who were helping us but we were not on the same wavelength. The lack of a proper translator was clearly frustrating at times. However,overcoming these obstacles was part of the accomplishment,perseverance and rewarding experience.I would not change a thing about this trip and I would recommend it to all those that need some personal growth, exposure to a new culture, exotic food and well-rounded fun. And remember, changing the world starts by taking the initiative to change ourselves and challenge ourselves.