experiences: peru

December 2004
HA !!! CAJAMARCA,

The place to be in Peru for volunteering. My name is Valerie and I´m from Canada. I have been in Nepal, Thailand and Peru was my last stop. I stayed 2 months in Cajamarca and my experience was wonderful. I had the chance to work with Alex from UK, Boris from France, Emma from Ireland and Melinda from Hungary. During that time our mission was to work with street kids in the day and teach French and English classes at night. The team was brilliant - we all helped and supported each other when needed. Working with kids was a great challenge and if you are planning to come and work in Cajamarca I´m sure you´ll agree with me once you lived this brillant experience.

So good luck to all the future teachers in Cajamarca! Remember to have fun!

Valerie Bergeron
Whistler, Canada

Cristina Basso from Italy writes of her time at Incawasi at the beginning of 2005:

I was working in Cajamarca for approximately 4 weeks in January and February 2005. When I got to Cajamarca I was in the worst possible mood, for personal reasons, and didn't have great expectations about the work and the program. I must say I quickly and happily changed my mind and found it interesting and challenging.

The kids, twenty or so from five to thirteen tears old, are used to volunteers and curious about their countries and lives. Only the simple fact of seeing them trying to grab and hug you makes you start smiling and feeling comfortable. I immediately had a good impression of Esther, the secretary, and I must say that she is the one who really helped me get accustomed to the town life , walking with me through the crowded streets of the market, showing me the most convenient places and giving me important suggestions about what to do, what to see or visit and how to respond to specific situation. I had a very good relation with Susanne and Marge too, the other volunteers, and we had a great time after work and in the weekends.

I will never forget some of our funny experiences. We had been trying to do something different from just playing with the kids, trying psychological and social games, drawing and painting, singing and doing aerobics. I remember a nice morning in which we took a trip to a nearby place to let them ride on horses. It was amazing, seeing these little children, some scared, others enthusiastic, lining, one after another waiting for their turn to ride on the big but calm animals.

In the afternoon I taught english to a group of five, first, and then four children and this was a precious experience for me. They were very motivated and willing to learn and I wish I could have stayed longer with them. We used to end the lesson with a game in which every child had to draw something on the blackboard and the other guessed the english name of the object drawn. They were always loking forward to this moment. For a short period I also taught basic english to a huge group of adults and I enjoyed this experience too.

I really would have liked to stay longer in Cajamarca. I enjoyed the city and I met great people whom I will never forget. I strongly recommend the project and can guarantee the the honesty and transparency of this NGO. This is not a thing I found very often among other organizations. Everyone can see the files in which Esther records the accounts and it is clear that every sol is spent to run the centre and let the project go on and on, which I truly hope it will continue to do.

April 2005

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to say that I have made it back to the States.... I just wanted everyone I got to work (and play with) at Inca Wasi (our new name the volunteers decided on for our project) that I had such an amazing experience and I couldn't have asked for better coworkers...We were a GREAT team...I am going to miss you all and I will never forget the great memories we made (even in only a 3 weeks period. Please keep me as a Inca Wasi member and updated on all that is going on at the center...I will write on my Inca Wasi experience later....Love you all
Krysti Gabriel