Why did you decide to volunteer abroad with GVI in Peru?
Matt: I had been considering volunteering abroad for a few years and was considering taking a gap year, however, deep down I knew that I would not want to go back into education and undergo my Uni degree. Whilst in the process of completing my final year I started to look around at volunteering agencies and GVI was the most highly respectable. The decision behind volunteering in Peru was that I wanted to get out of Europe, and visit a country I had never been anywhere near before, plus another factor behind my decision was that I wanted to make a difference and teaching seemed to be the best thing to do.
Describe your day to day activities as a volunteer.
Matt: The day to day activities on the project would often consist of being picked up by the bus at 0830 and we would arrive at the school by around 0900 to go straight into the class and start teaching. It was often an amazing sight when arriving as the children would often sprint down the stairs to greet you, however, this soon stopped as you realize they had to walk / be carried up the 98 steps to the school. Once the lessons had started depending on the grade you would help the children / teach maths, English art and PE. Although more often than not PE would descend into football, although this was being prevented (slowly). Once the kids had their lessons they would then be given time to do their homework which had been set throughout the day. Some would stay for the assistance.
Following the end of the school day we would go back to the hotel where we would start lesson planning for the next day or week. This was often the hardest part as you had to translate everything into Spanish although hard work was very very rewarding. Although this is brief outline, nearly everyday was different and you were never doing the same thing.
How did this experience impact your academic development?
Matt: The highlight of the trip would have to be the challenge, me and 12 others foolishly agreed to hike across the Andean mountains in an attempt to raise money for the children in Latin America. The views from this expedition were amazing. Although I damaged my knee ligaments, I was still determined to battle on and not let the team or the kids down (although I did end up taking the mule, this was just as hard as on several occasions my mule would take a short cut across the front of the mountain instead of following the path). We all survived and raised valuable money for the children on GVI projects in Latin America. It would also be rude not to mention meeting all the other volunteers, who all played a valuable role in making the experience even more amazing!
The experience has affected me in many different ways as it has opened my eyes as to how easy we have it in comparison to those living elsewhere, and made me realize how much I have taken for granted through education and work.