Community Work with Special needs Children in Peru

Product Details

This project gives you the opportunity to explore beautiful Peru, from the Amazon River to the jungles of the north west and the peaks of the high Andes. In the coastal town of Mancora you can help enhance the lives of special needs children and teenagers. This centre provides physical therapy and development to the children, but they have no funds to employ permanent staff. You can help by getting involved with a variety of activities including arts, crafts, dance and playtime. Located just over an hour from the Peru-Ecuador border, Mancora is considered to be one of the most beautiful areas of Northern Peru with its endless summer and enchanting beaches.

Project details:
We work with four projects throughout Peru. The Divino Jesus Association in Mancora, Northern Peru was set up in 2003 with the aim of offering therapy to children suffering from mental and physical handicaps. The children are aged between 3 and around 20 and have not previously been given any special care or attention. This centre has recently been given governmental recognition as an educational institute and offers the community a centre where physical and occupational therapy can be offered.

Centro Educativo Carlos A. Mannucci based in Trujillo, looks after kids/adults with mental disabilities like Down's Syndrome, autism and deafness. The centre was founded 44 years ago as a charity, and around 20 years later the centre received recognition as a public school, and nowadays it is partly financed by the government and partly by the parents, through tuition fees.

The third is the Centro de Educacian Basica Especial (CEBE) founded 1978 with the main objective of Offering integral education to special needs children by developing their particular abilities, fostering programs of early education towards special needs children and to include children with special needs into regular educational centres, and into the society as a whole. This centre is based in the costal town of Pisco around 250km south of Lima.

The Hogar Jose San Benito Cottolengo is a charity and founded in 2000. Based in Arequipa a beautiful city surrounded by spectacular mountains. It presently lodges 17 special needs children, who all have different needs such as Down syndrome, autism, mental disabilities and have been abandoned or come from the extreme poverty sector, and therefore their parents cannot take care of them. They are aged from 1 to 28.

Why the project needs volunteers:
Working with children how come from very low income families and very little or no government or private funding all three projects have a very limited budget to employ permanent staff. Volunteers are essential to support the project and give the children the care and attention they need to continue to develop and have the stimulus they need.

Your role as a volunteer:
You can get involved in a wide range of activities such as dance, arts, crafts, and helping with playtime. You may get a chance to get involved with physical therapy as well.

Where the project is based:
Mancora is about an hour away from the Ecuador border on the northern Peru coastline, where it is summer all year round, and surfing is a common sport. It is about 13 / 14 hours bus ride away from Lima. There are some facilities in the town itself like internet access but no banks.

Trujillo is a lovely coastal colonial city (700,000 pop) which is about 8 hours north of Lima. Trujillo is blessed with nice weather most of the year round, beautiful architecture and ancient archaeological sites. It is also very well known for holding major festivals where the main feature is the marinera, a celebrated Peruvian coastal dance.

Pisco is located 250 km south of Lima, in the department of Ica. The landscape is characterized by extensive desert plains set between the ocean and the Andes. There are several interesting places to visit around Pisco, like the Ballestas Islands in Paracas, the Huacachina Oasis, and the Nazca Lines. As Pisco is located in a desert there is no rainy season so there is no bad time to visit.Arequipa is in the mountainous desert of the western Andes surrounded by volcanoes, hot springs, high altitude deserts and some of the deepest canyons. With many of its buildings dating back to the colonial times you will be based in a stunning and picturesque city.

You will need to arrive into Lima (LIM) on your specified arrival date. The in country team will book your onward travel which will need to be reimbursed during orientation.

If you have a preferred location please contact the Latin America team to state this, otherwise you will be allocated to the project that has the most need at the time of your arrival.

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"I just wanted to drop you a quick email to say i have been having an incredible time with the niños in the centre they are the most gorgeous children that i have ever had the pleasure of being with!"
Holly:
Community work with special needs children in Peru