Volunteer in Peru - Cusco | Most Affordable Projects

Volunteer in Peru - Cusco | Most Affordable Projects

Location
  • Peru
    • Cusco
Length
1 to 24 weeks

Program Details

Language
Spanish
Age Min.
17
Timeframe
Short Term Spring Break Summer Winter Year Round
Housing
Host Family
Groups
Small Group (1-15) Medium Group (16-30) Large Group (31+)

Pricing

Starting Price
475
Price Details
The costs include:
- 24 hrs Assistance and support from VS Staff
- Comprehensive Pre- Departure Information
- Airport Pickup
- Orientation
- Accommodation
- Meals
What's Included
Accommodation Airport Transfers Meals
What's Not Included
Airfare Visa
Sep 30, 2024
Jul 28, 2025
94 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

Volunteering Solutions, in association with the local organizations and NGOs, offers some interesting and affordable volunteering projects in the city of Cusco. Despite the popularity of Peru as a tourist destination, much of the population still lives in poverty, especially in rural areas. You can be a volunteer and meaningfully contribute towards the lives of these people. You can choose to volunteer for Teaching Project, Kindergarten Program, Disabled Care Project and others, depending on your areas of interest!

Students who wish to become dentists in future can also choose the Dental Elective Program and gain first-hand work experience by shadowing the professionals. Also, being such a culturally rich country, volunteering in Peru will help you to broaden your horizon and learn more about the country's history, heritage and lifestyle!

COMMUNITY REVIEWS SUMMARY

Volunteers appreciate the warm host families, supportive staff, and meaningful work with children and in healthcare settings.

Consider your impact: Volunteering abroad can be a rewarding experience for both volunteers and local communities, and at Go Overseas, we believe all volunteers should have the resources to make informed decisions about the type of volunteer project they want to partake in. However, despite best intentions, some organizations offering placements in orphanages may unknowingly place children in danger. You can read about the potential dangers of orphanage volunteering here. Learn more about how Volunteering Solutions is promoting ethical volunteering.

Video and Photos

Program Highlights

  • Choose from a range of 8 different programs available in Cusco, for a minimum duration of 1 week to a maximum of 24 weeks.
  • Get a chance to do some meaningful work and gain incredible experience.
  • Go and explore the Inca Trails - hike up to Machu Picchu, and walk down the trails of Sacred Valley.
  • Go for the Rainbow Mountains trek and be amazed by nature's beauty.
  • Learn more about Peruvian culture & heritage.

Popular Programs

Medical volunteer in peru

Volunteers working in the medical volunteering program make a genuine contribution to staff working within Peru’s health clinics and medical centers. Volunteers mainly work in medical clinics which provide care and treatment to the people residing in the poor and underprivileged areas of Cusco.

Program Reviews

4.80 Rating
based on 108 reviews
  • 5 rating 82.41%
  • 4 rating 14.81%
  • 3 rating 2.78%
  • 2 rating 0%
  • 1 rating 0%
  • Impact 4.45
  • Support 4.8
  • Fun 4.8
  • Value 4.6
  • Safety 4.85
Showing 49 - 56 of 108 reviews
Margot
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

mon expérience !

(English translation): I spent 2 weeks in Peru, it was really amazing I recommend. Already the project with children (3 to 5 years) was indescribable, the feeling of giving them a little help and love is just great. Then 'my family was very endearing, I talked a lot with each of them and I have good memories! The food was also very good and they suited my tastes. Finally, the excursions to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley were impressive. Everything was very well organized and I had a great time, really. In the afternoons I went to visit the city which has lots of places to see! I recommend 100%, a significant social impact with visiting places around! Perfect
Do not hesitate, come and discover the Peruvian culture, the city of Cusco, the Inca monuments! And enjoy to help children in 'need :)

(Original text):
j’ai passé 2 semaines au Pérou, c’etait Vraiment incroyable je recommande. Déjà le projet avec les enfants (3 a 5 ans) était indescriptible, la sensation de leur donner un peu d’aide et d’amour est juste géniale. Ensuite’ ma famille était très attachante, j’ai beaucoup discuté avec chacun d’eux et j’ai de bons’ souvenirs ! La nourriture était aussi très bonne et ils s’adaptaient a mes goûts. Pour finir, les excursions au Machu Picchu et à la Vallée sacrée etait impressionnante. Tout était très bien organisé et j’ai passé un super moment, vraiment. Les après midis j’allais visité la ville qui a plein de lieux à voir ! Je recommande a 100%, un impact social important avec la visite des endroits autour! Parfait
N’hésitez plus, venez découvrir la culture péruvienne, la ville de Cusco, les monuments incas ! Et profitez en pour aider des enfants dans’ le besoin :)

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
Enjoy 100% of the moment! In your project, with your 'family, and also alone to visit!

Profitez à 100% du moment ! Dans votre projet, avec votre’ famille, et aussi seul pour visiter !
149 people found this review helpful.
Shi-Yo Jill
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Volunteering at C.S. Buena Vista

Overall, I had an amazing time here. The staff were very patient with me and taught me how to perform various tasks in the clinic. I worked mostly in the department of niño sano and they showed me how to measure the weights, heights, and head perimeters of the babies. They also let me help with the vaccination of babies. It was a lot more paperwork and documentation than I had expected but I enjoyed learning and experiencing the amount of work the staff have to do every day. I was able to learn more about the health system in Peru because they let me perform various paperwork and documentation. I had taken Spanish for 4 years in high school so I was able to understand and speak enough Spanish to communicate with the staff. I recommend that people interested in this program should have a basic grasp of Spanish going in as most staff only speak Spanish (only one or two spoke a little bit of English).

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
I advise people interested in the program to have a basic grasp of Spanish as most of the staff only speak and understand Spanish. The staff would be able to teach you more and allow you to perform more tasks if they could communicate well enough with you to trust that you understand them. In this way, you will be more helpful and will get more out of the experience.
127 people found this review helpful.
Seung Woo
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

My Turning Point in Cusco

I realized how the healthcare was so inaccessible to so many. I also realized how the economic state of the country can lead so many people to violence and poor healthcare. The small number of technology available was also very shocking. It was a very humbling experience to witness so many unfortunate families and children. I would love to come back after becoming a medical professional some day and treat them too.

When I saw people waiting in line, it broke my heart to see that there wasn't a technology that seemed to expedite any process. there was only one doctor and several nurses that shuffled papers around that somehow one of them eventually gets lost. However, the one important thing I learned in this clinic is that we can gain happiness from the smallest things in life. It's not about going big or becoming successful, but to build relationships that we can both help and depend on. These little things are eventually what help us to become a better person with a better perspective of the world.

What would you improve about this program?
I honestly thought that they coordinated everything very well, from orientation and phone set-up to machu picchu trip. perfecto!
139 people found this review helpful.
David
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Overall Amazing

I had a really great time volunteering in Peru. It made me understand the real problems that healthcare workers and normal citizens in Peru face. Lack of iron supplements, lack of computer software for patient record, and a large group of underprivileged families working to vaccinate their babies. I would not have understood these problems without fully experiencing the Cusco city and volunteering in a health clinic outside of US. I only wished that I had some Spanish background to communicate with the clinic employees and help them better.
I also was able to travel to Machu Picchu, and this was an invaluable experience, something that I would have never done if I did not volunteer here. Cusco city was also amazing with its amalgam of Inca and Spanish culture. Food was especially cheap and amazing!

What would you improve about this program?
Recommending that Basic Spanish is a MUST! I also wished that the health clinic had computers or tablets to improve faster patient seeing time and create better record keeping measures.
146 people found this review helpful.
Nikita
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Alternative Breaks

Overall, this has been one of the most inspiring weeks that the rest of my group and I have ever experienced. Our tour guide and country coordinator, Jorge, was extremely accomodating, patient, kind, and very passionate about his country. He helped us immensely with everything we had to do with the school and our host families. When our own team leaders could not handle certain things, he stepped in and made everything go smoothly. We appreciate all he has done for us. During our project, my team and I helped to renovate a school for children between the ages of 3 and 5. We painted ad repaired tables and chairs and also painted the classroom. For us, this experience felt like it came full circle. Many of us are the children of parents or grandparents that were not able to get a proper education. We have all been fortunate enough to get an eduaction and see different parts of the world because of the sacrafices made by our parents. Seeing how excited these kids were to learn and how involved their parents were really inspired us. We hope that the work we have done really makes a difference in the childrens´ education.

142 people found this review helpful.
Mark
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

My experience in Cusco Peru

My experience in Cusco, Peru was absolutely amazing. The VolSol staff was very helpful when I first got there and was very accomadating when my flight time changed last minute. The host family that I stayed with was awesome and the food they my host mom made for me was delicious, I loved everything that I tried. This was my first time traveling completely alone, and it was amazing to meet so many different people during my excursions to the Sacred Valley, Macchu Picchu, and Rainbow Mountain. Even though I was traveling alone I met and kept in touch with so many new people and ended up meeting up with them many times over the course of my trip to explore Cusco. Working in the clinic was also super beneficial. I learned so much from the doctors and nurses and even got to give a lot of vaccinations. This has been my favorite trip that I have taken so far and I would highly recommend it to literally ANYONE.

What was the most unfamiliar thing you ate?
I ate “cuy” which is guinea pig and I absolutely hated it but I ate the whole thing because my host family bought it for me and it was super expensive.
129 people found this review helpful.
Maria
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Insuperable¡¡¡¡

Translation:
It has exceeded my expectations by a thousand, the family has been affectionate, kind and always to tempt our needs we made each day a different trip of typical Peruvian food, they took us to places to try the best dishes!
In the kindergarten super comfortable with the children drawing, teaching them to play new games, always with a welcome with a smile and a hug of those who hurt, I was painting the street mural ... I leave a small memory 😁
The organization of the excursions have been perfect, subject of schedules, almost always arriving the first place to be able to enjoy without the passing of people, which is appreciated, the insurmountable guides, the agency to tempt to all our questions
I would repeat with my eyes closed.

Original:
Ha sido una exprerencia IMPRESIONATE¡ha superado mis expectativas por mil,la familia ha sido cariñosa ,amable y siempre a tenta a nuestras necesidades nos hacian cada dia un tipp diferente de comida tipica de Perú,nos llevaban a sitios para probar los mejores platos !!
En la guardería super agusto con los niños dibujando,enseñandoles a jugar a nuevos juegos,siempre con una bienvenida con una sonrisa y un abrazo de los wue hacen daño,estuve pintando el mural de la calle...dejo un pequeño recuerdo 😁
La organizacion de las escursiones han sido perfectas , tema de horarios ,casi siempre llegando los primeros paea poder disfrutar sin eceso de gente,cosa que se agradece,los guias insuperables ,la agencia a tenta a todas nuestras preguntas
Volveria a repetir con los ojos cerrados.

What would you improve about this program?
That the programs and the information that is received is also in Spanish.
141 people found this review helpful.
Marcela
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Mi experiencia

Translation: This experience in Cusco, Peru was excellent. Really more than I expected.

The project with the nursery was very rewarding, the children, the teachers and the facilities. Every day we learned something new with the children, we played, we painted, we danced. A complete accompaniment.

The house where I stayed was wonderful, Mom Edith is a great woman, the typical food she cooked was delicious, she looks after me like a daughter and is always willing to help us.

The tours that organized us were wonderful, the historical places, the organization of them allowed me to do both the volunteer projects and the exploration of the country in a parallel way. Love my stay every day. I will definitely return to Cusco and the volunteer program.

Original:
Esta experiencia en Cusco, Perú fue excelente. Realmente más de lo que esperaba.

El proyecto con la guardería fue muy gratificante, los niños, las profesoras y las instalaciones. Todos los días aprendimos algo nuevo con los niños, jugamos, pintamos, bailamos. Un acompañamiento completo.

La casa donde me hospede fue maravillosa, la mamá Edith es una gran mujer, la comida típica que cocinaba era deliciosa, me cuida como una hija y siempre está dispuesta a ayudarnos. Los tours que nos organizaron fueron maravillosos, los lugares históricos, la organización de los mismos me permitieron hacer tanto el volutarariado como la exploración del país de forma paralela.

Ame cada día mi estadía. Sin duda volveré a Cusco y al programa de voluntariado.

What was your funniest moment?
Every day discovering the culture.
Every day receiving the love of children.
140 people found this review helpful.

Questions & Answers

The site says "Pre-med, nursing, and medical students" and biomedical science is like a pre-med degree, so we assume the answer is yes. Contacting the program for their answer is also never a bad idea :)

Yes they can do that.