SKIP Peru Sports Coordinator

My name is Dave, and I am from England. I worked at SKIP for 8 months back as the Sports leader.

I undertook the position at SKIP, having no prior teaching experience and a sketchy level of Spanish - I had somewhat thrown myself into the deep end. Through the help and support of those around me within the charity, I was able to ensure that my relative lack of knowledge and experience did not prove to be a problem.

The Sports Coordinator role takes patience, enthusiasm, energy, and creativity. The role included teaching students at both primary and secondary school level. In addition to the teaching, there was responsibility for creating and maintaining a curriculum, managing volunteers, and assisting where help was needed in other departments. The limited resources and requirement to keep lessons fun, interesting, and engaging will drag out your inner creativity! Although, at times, the work was hard and tiring; patience, persistency, and perseverance pays off in the end making the good times all the more rewarding. The kids themselves are amazing to work with, full of energy, talented, kind, and caring.

My highlights at the school came in through the trip out into the countryside with the kids, the father’s day football tournament, and the Saturday football training sessions that we ran. I felt proud to be able to look back and compare the differences in the first classes that I took and the last classes.

In addition to the role, the opportunity to work at SKIP is unique. Living together with other volunteers helps to create an inseparable bond – the family meals, house BBQ’s, nights out at La Barra, and trips during school holidays all stay with me today. Living in Trujillo also provided too many highlights to list but the stand outs – Hermelinda Markets, playing football against the locals every night at the Stadium Mansiche pitches, and amazing street food!