Welcome to our first monthly update! As promised, we want to update you on what is happening with us on our volunteering assignment here in Huancayo, Peru. We have been in Peru for one month, and the time has quickly passed. Huancayo is a beautiful place, surrounded by mountains and the people are great, however we have received many stares and seem to be considered a novelty in a city that has few tourists!

Huancayo is the capital of the province of Junin, which is in Central Peru. The city it 10,000 feet above sea level inhabited by 350,000 people living in an around the city. Huancayo has an enormous daily market for people to sell fruits, vegetables, meats, artisan crafts, candy, baked goods, and some electronics. Most of the population is poor and is reliant on selling products for their livelihood. The city is located in the Mantero Valley and is surrounded by the Andean Mountains and small farming villages called “pueblos”. There is a lack of technology, many of the roads are unpaved, there is an antiquated plumbing infrastructure, inconsistent water and electricity, and a serious absence of proper healthcare. Despite these setbacks, they do have access to the Internet and a small but decent bus system consisting of small minivans called “combis”. The main staples of the local diet are chicken, rice, potatoes and bread with many restaurants, called Pollorias, serving one dish, “pollo al la brasa con papas fritas” (roasted chicken with french fries) for about US$2.00.

We are living with the program director of Tinkuy Peru (our volunteer program) and, as in typical Peruvian homes, with his extended family consisting of 10 family members. Leonico Tinoco or “Tino” is the program director and the leader of the family. His wife Marie and two little girls, Pillar and Angelita, live with us as well. Marie cooks all of the meals and helps us with Spanish, by talking with us everyday, and has hands full with the girls. Marie and Tino are local artists who create weavings and paintings, depicting Peruvian scenes and life, to sell all over the country. Also living in the house are Tino’s mother, Mama Pilla, and his two sisters, Haydee and Juanita. All three of these women are Peruvian Artisans who sell their crafts locally everyday. Juanita has two daughters, Jacklyn and Leslie, Leslie teaches English to the volunteers. Jesus Leon, also lives in the house, and is the brother of Marie. He takes the volunteers on excursions to learn about the region and to interact with local people. These people have accepted us into their family and we are honored to be living with them.

Thus far the majority of our work has been with the Andean School for English, a school founded by Tino, and in helping Tino organize the volunteer program. We have done some orphanage work and made friends with many of the children in the orphanage as well as their care takers. All of the programs that we are involved with are lacking resources and coordination because they are accustomed to short term volunteer help. We have a lot of work to do in our year here! The Andean School is currently located in the first floor of a rental house, and is set up to teach poor children ages five through fifteen. The mission of the school is to slowly improve English literacy among the people of Huancayo so that they may have access to better academic resources written in English, as well as participate in the economic development of the global economy.
Some of the current challenges facing the Andean School for English include:

1. No funding from outside sources other than volunteers
2. No unified curriculum for volunteers to teach from
3. Currently little marketing efforts to inform poor families of the school
4. No infrastructure for registering students
5. No organized term or grading system
6. No organized tests or media for testing progress
7. Currently there are fifteen students enrolled in a school with a capacity of ninety
8. Some classrooms in the school are lacking enclosure

The Aldea del Rosario is the orphanage we volunteer with. The facility is divided into different bunk houses or “familias” each with seven children and a mother to cook and look after them. There are currently seventy five children living in the Aldea, mostly who are found on the street working with criminals, have been discarded by their parents because of some handicap or because their families are too poor to feed them. All of the children do their own laundry and eat with their individual “familias” in their bunk houses. The orphanage has a farm that grows potatoes, corn, and artichokes both for selling and for the children to eat. They also have a guinea pig farm (which they use in a local dish) and a bread bakery, both of which are used to generate income and food for the orphans. There is a play area for soccer and some play equipment. Most of the children go to public school and get help with their homework in a multi disciplinary room at the Aldea, the same room in which we teach English each morning.

Some of the challenges for the Aldea del Rosario include:

1. Better clothing and shoes for the orphans
2. Improved personal Hygiene and cleaner living conditions in the bunk houses
3. Consistent and structured class for teaching English
4. Improved and safer recreation area
5. General up keep for the bunk houses (especially mural painting)
6. Better family placement services
7. Better nutritional and more diverse food for the children
8. General up keep of the farm

So, we see lots of room for growth in all three of the programs, the Tinkuy Peru volunteer program, the New Andean School for English, and the Aldea del Rosario orphanage.