Volunteer in Peru with Children

Volunteer with child at a special needs center Peru is an amazing destination to work with children in kindergartens and care homes in South America. Located on the Pacific Coast of South America between Chile and Ecuador, Peru is one of the more popular tourist destinations in Latin America. Exports such as coffee, potatoes and gold have done much to improve the levels of high unemployment, but low wages mean that many families still live in poverty and, especially in more rural areas, there is a real need for volunteers to help with caring for children.

As well as working with children there are also opportunities for more experienced volunteers to assist with the training of staff in our partner organizations. Whatever your age, abilities, qualifications or level of experience, you can contribute to this vital development work during a college break, gap year, career break or just a vacation. Energy, passion and commitment to the work at hand is all you need to participate!

Volunteering in Kindergartens, Day Care Centers and Special Education Schools with Projects Abroad

Our office is based in the town of Urubamba, which is situated in the Sacred Valley. Our Care projects in Peru are all situated in this region. There are three different placement options for volunteers: Kindergarten Programs, Day Care Centers or working in a school with children with learning disabilities. Our local staff will help you to find the placement that most accurately matches your skills and level of experience.

Projects Abroad runs a pilot program in coordination with the Ministry of Education, where materials, activities and strategies are tried out before we try to implement them in other kindergartens in the Sacred Valley. We are responsible for the in-service training of the kindergarten teachers in the region, so our volunteers are also welcome to help prepare materials for the training workshops.

Care volunteer playing with little girl You will assist the class supervisor in all kinds of play-work activities, such as arts and crafts, painting, and teaching reading and writing. You may wish to develop projects with the children using your own interests in music, sports or drama, or you may wish to take a more observational role and lend the children support through providing friendship and assistance.

We encourage volunteers to try new activities and expand the range of games and ideas the children will encounter. Working closely with individual children and identifying their areas of strength is a very important part of this placement.

Volunteers work alongside local teachers developing resources and classroom activities to make the lessons more interesting. We aim for volunteers to contribute to the resources at the kindergarten during their placement, building up a bank of information that the teachers can use in their lessons.

Volunteers can also work in Day Care Centers for children between 1 and 4 years old. Here you will assist the supervisors with general hygiene and with the caring for and feeding of the children. You may wish to develop small projects with the children using your own interests in art, music, sports or drama, and we will provide you with the resources necessary to assist you in this.

A further care placement is at a special-needs school in Calca, where we have been working since 2005. People with learning disabilities are often still regarded as one homogenous group in Peru, but the provision of support for many learning disabilities has changed dramatically in recent years. In line with this we are helping to implement a system focused on the individual, including art, drama and music therapies, and supporting life-long learning.

During the holidays - between mid-December and March - care volunteers will usually either work at summer Day Care Centers for pre-school children or on a Community Project in the mountains.

Volunteer ProfileHannah Burd

My adventures in Peru have contributed to one of the most enriching years of education I have ever enjoyed. Any worries I had about traveling alone dissolved as soon as I arrived, made life-long friendships with the other volunteers and met the Projects Abroad team. I would highly recommend anyone with the smallest amount of wanderlust to take a Gap Year - an immensely fulfilling experiences that I loved every second of. Read more...

Volunteering Abroad with Children on a Care Project in Peru

Peru We try to take advantage of all of our volunteers’ talents and skills when organizing their Care placement. Volunteers can assist in improving the children’s’ competence and awareness in many areas of personal and social education, such as problem-solving, adjusting behavior to different situations, and understanding others. Helping the children in these areas is vital in order to give them the best chance of living independently in the future.

Volunteering on a care project in Peru is a chance to make a real difference to these children, not merely through the development of their social and life-skills, but also through exposing them to new ideas and cultures. And it is likely that you will learn as much from them as they do from you!

All volunteers on Teaching, Care, Culture & Community, Medicine & Healthcare, Sports or Spanish placements in Peru now have the opportunity to add a 7-Day Conservation Project to the end of their main placement. Click here for more information.