Helping Hands
Peru
Based in Cusco — once the center of the Inca Empire, and now a bustling city in the southern mountains of Peru — Helping Hands works to improve the lives of disadvantaged women and children.
Partner Needs
Help teach reading, mathematics, and the other basic subjects that are already being taught from 8:30-12:30 and 2:30-5:30 five days a week. Introduce art, physical education, and other subjects that are not yet being taught at the school. Mario and Rosa also want to initiate a Reading Program, and need volunteers to read to the children every day and also to manage the school's book collection. Help Mario and Rosa initiate a "street school" so that children working in the streets of Cusco can still receive some education. Volunteer during January and February, so that Helping Hands could initiate a summer-school program. At the moment, the school is forced to close during these months because no teachers are available. Help Mario and Rosa reach their long-term vision of founding a new high-school in Cusco. At the moment, Helping Hands teaches students only up to age 13, and then hopes that they can be admitted into local high-schools. However, with additional human and material resources, the school could potentially expand to offer education to children until the age of 18.
Volunteer Placement Logistics
The Helping Hands school in Cusco is funded entirely by donations, and thus can employ only one full-time teacher. However, the project's directors, Mario and Rosa, are trying their hardest to find ways to expand the reach of their program, and eagerly hope to receive the help of volunteers.