Hello, all University of Leeds students! My name is Sophie and I am one of the leaders for the RAG Project for SKIP. SKIP is an acronym for the wonderful charity Supporting Kids in Peru. We are looking for volunteers to join us on this journey so if you’re compassionate, adventurous, and want to make a difference then you’re reading the right article!
SKIP not only supports children but their families too. It is based in El Porvenir, a small village in Trujillo in the north of Peru because it is recognised as one of the most impoverished areas of the country, with the highest levels of illiteracy. SKIP provides supplementary education to go alongside the national school system. It provides English lessons, sports and art classes, homework support, a library, and a relaxed environment for children to play and develop their social skills. Alongside this, it hosts workshops for parents to provide them with invaluable skills to help them beat poverty. This includes jewellery making workshops, micro-grants, social and business skills classes, and many more opportunities. SKIP have even supported some of their students on their journey towards university.
As volunteers, we will be staying in Peru for a month and will help with the general running of the charity. This includes teaching English, arts, sports, working in the library and also helping with the running of a construction project. Last year, with the help of the volunteers, we were able to build a climbing frame out of tires in the playground. There will be 2 groups going, one in July and the other in August. We will be hiring out a hostel, so we’ll have the common rooms and kitchens to ourselves as well as transport to and from the community centre. As well as this breakfast and lunch Tuesday to Saturday and drinking water will be provided. We will be arranging group flights to Lima (unless you would like to travel independently!) and a coach from there to Trujillo, there will also be a coach back at the end of the month.
Of course, we will not be staying in Peru without a little adventure and there will be two optional weekend trips away. One will be to Huaraz, where we will explore the local town and possibly go horseback riding through the Andes! After that, there is a guided hike to Lake 69, a beautiful blue lagoon in the heights of the Andes. The other will be a trip to Mancora, where we will visit markets in the small hippy village and go to the beach, where it is possible to surf, scuba dive, and swim with turtles! In Trujillo, there are also options to visit old Moche civilisation ruins or even go sandboarding. On both of these weekends and whilst we’re in Trujillo itself, we will be able to arrange social events at the local hostels and bars so there’ll never be a dull moment!
The approximate costs of this trip will be £240 for accommodation, meals, and transport, £200 for the weekend excursions, flight costs, and each volunteer will need to fundraise £700. We will be running fundraising events and socials throughout the year so this amount is easily achievable with some hard work but also good fun. If you would like some more information, then please email leedsrag.peru@gmail.com or come to our drop-in hours advertised on the Facebook page SKIP Project to Peru 2018/19.