Job Discussion Forums

[gus64]

If anyone is interested, I recently finished up a 4 week volunteer stunt, teaching English to disadvantaged children in Huancayo, Peru with an organization called Peruforyou (www.peruforyou.com). Overall, it was a very rewarding experience and relatively cheap compared to other volunteer projects. We stayed with a Peruvian family and got free Spanish lessons as part of the overall cost. I highly recommend it to anyone is is interested.

[irish rose]

hey gus,
just looked at the website and it looks great. would be very interested in doing something like that. just wondering how much money I would need to save and bring with me altogether to do me for a month?

[gus64]

First of all, I did a stint not a stunt.

As far as costs go, I see they have changed things a bit on the website from when we were there just a few months ago. But what you see is what you get, $280 for the program, accomodation, etc. If you teach, like we did, you pay an extra $40 which goes towards materials for the kids. They also do a lot of hygiene stuff with the kids as well, getting them to wash their hands and brush their teeth everyday. Consequently, some of that also goes towards tooth brushes, soap ,etc. Don't do the Lima pickup. It's very easy to get there on your own. You'd be wasting your money. They use a bad exchange rate when you pay for everything. They used a rate of 3.45 soles/$US compared to the going rate which was 3.25/$US. So, they make some extra money in the process, which everyone complained about. They claim they want to keep the same rate for everyone and not have it vary. Whatever... in the grand scheme of things it's not that much extra, around $60 or so. Some volunteer organizations, like i to i, for example, charge thousands of dollars. Peruforyou is dirt cheap compared to the others.

Life in Huancayo is pretty inexpensive. It's not a real touristy area so costs are much, much lower than a place like Cusco. We were shocked by the prices there after 4 weeks in Huancayo. Our family provided us with three meals a day. Transportation is extremely cheap, .50 soles for a bus ride. 2.50 soles to go by taxi anywhere.

Every weekend we took an excursion to somewhere in the MAntaro Valley. There are loads of things to see and do around Huancayo. It's a beautiful area.

Let me know if you have any specific questions. As I said, it was a great experience. Peru is wonderful and this is a chance to make a difference in the lives of some kids who really need the extra attention you can provide.