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Global Gap Year: Stage 2 - Peru Education
Peru is a fascinating and beautiful country with many wonderful volunteer projects and internships available. With an extensive Pacific coastline, a vast area of Amazon rainforest and the magnificent Andes, Peru provides an opportunity for volunteers to experience much of what South America offers within just one country. Wildlife, beaches, historical sites and the most beautiful mountains in the Andes range are found in abundance. There are also interesting cities full of colonial history, especially Cuzco, which is an archaeological paradise.
At Projects Abroad, we are particularly proud of our Education projects in Peru. We are working with the Peruvian Ministry of Education on an eight-year scheme to update the English curriculum for 23 schools in the Sacred Valley between Cusco and Machu Picchu. The English curriculum, created in the capital city of Lima, is not always relevant to children in the more rural Sacred Valley, and local English speakers who would otherwise be teachers are often tempted by higher salaries in the local tourist industry.
This project is run by our Peru Director, Tim DeWinter - previously an education specialist with UNICEF. If the new curriculum generated and implemented by our volunteers is a success, it will be applied to more rural schools in Peru.
While in the Sacred Valley, participants will take part in an innovative teacher training program during Peru's long school holidays from January to March. The teacher training and workshops on English instruction will be led by Tim and our project supervisors along with the help of volunteers. Volunteers will prepare interactive lessons for small groups that are divided up according to their level of English language knowledge and it is worth noting that most Peruvian teachers will have a very basic level of English. Throughout the training, volunteers will work alongside local teachers to help develop worksheets and lesson plans that can be used successfully in the classroom. Through this important program you will help raise the level of English instruction in the Sacred Valley that will have a long lasting impact for years to come.
- Name: Vilma Unda
- Title: Head of Secondary Schools
- Organization: Ministry of Education - Cusco
The project developed by Projects Abroad in the Cusco region is especially important as we are working on a diversified regional curriculum. The
in-service teacher training offered by Projects Abroad and the volunteers accompanying the Peruvian English teachers has had a positive influence on thousand of students. Taking into account that the Cusco region is extremely touristy, the development of a pertinent and diversified curriculum for the teaching of a second (and in many cases third) language is a priority and we would like to thank and acknowledge the help we received from all Projects Abroad volunteers and staff alike.
Depending on the scheduling of the teacher training, the Global Gap group may get the opportunity to spend a week on our Inca project in the cloud forest of the Andes about three hours from the Sacred Valley. Here volunteers will get to participate in different archaeological work, community work and expeditions throughout the surrounding area.
At the conclusion of the work in participants will take part on the famous Inca Trail trek to the magnificent lost city of Machu Picchu. After several days of hiking and exploring ruins the participants' remaining days will be spent unwinding in the city of Cusco.