Reviews

Check out Valerie's video review!

Different culture, different lifestyle, and the chance to do something back to children who didn't have the same chances as I had, while growing up.

Check out Raphael's video review!

Check out Chiara's video review!

Check out Marcella's video review!

The accommodation was nice and perfectly situated. Besides the landscape is phenomenal. You can enjoy it by going for a run or just sitting on the roof terrace and reading a book.

I quite enjoyed my time in the school project. I was teaching English and participating in the sport classes. The kids were super cute and excited to meet new people. We had a lot of fun together and I got a first idea of how it is to teach a class. Another positive aspect is the flexibility for the volunteers. If you have any problems with your project or there is something you don’t like you can talk with your coordinator about it and together you will try to find a solution and improve your situations as best as possible.

The Spanish course in Cusco helped me a lot. I knew a bit of Spanish but I was definitely not confident in speaking to native speakers. With only two or three people and the Spanish teacher you could focus on your deficits and everybody had enough opportunities to improve their language skills. After a while yo had gotten used to the language and you had no problems having everyday conversations with Peruvians.

To sum it up, I can say that my time in Peru and in the project helped me grow as a person. I am more confident in meeting new people and talking to them in a foreign language.

Already two weeks back home now after I’ve left Peru, where I got to learn Spanish and work with a lot of amazing children. I miss it and would love to go back sometime.

It took me a long time to find a good organization which provides volunteering work, because I guess that for a lot of those organizations’ the reason to exist is to make money, so it’s more like a company. Which doesn’t make any sense to me. But luckily someone told me about Peru Volunteer, I got in contact with Thomas and got to know something about the projects he is running in Peru, and immediately I got very excited to start there.

I wanted to come to South America in the first place, but talked myself out of it because I didn’t know how to speak any Spanish. I was and still am really surprised about the amount of Spanish you can learn in only one month! And it will only improve while you are working in your project, because outside of the volunteer house there are not too many possibilities to speak English, which doesn’t leave you a choice but to practice a lot of Spanish.

You can really make a big difference for the teacher you help, and of course for the kids. I loved working there and it was very hard for me to leave. In the weekends you will have enough time to visit other towns or to have a nice walk in the mountain.

Hi, I am Karen! I’m from Holland and I am living and working in Peru for 2 months. I have been working in one of the public schools in Cusco, together with my husband, and we gave English classes to all three 5th grades and 6th grades. We also worked as a class assistant in other classes.

I experienced that it is really important to speak Spanish well, because if you work together it’s all about communication. Because I am a nurse I also worked in a health care project together with two volunteers and a nurse of the local hospital, a really nice experience.

Besides volunteering we have also time for traveling and we saw a lot of Lima, the south of Peru and Bolivia too. Thanks to the coordinators of Peru-Volunteer, they really make an afford for everyone to have a good time!

Already two weeks back home now after I’ve left Calca and Cusco where I got to learn Spanish and work with a lot of amazing children. I miss it and would love to go back sometime. I worked for Peru Volunteer as an English teacher and assisted in Sports and English classes in Calca for two months from May to June in 2015.

Overall it was a nice experience and especially when teaching English, I got the impression that you can contribute very positively to the education of young Peruvian pupils. However living in a foreign country requires to a certain extent that you adopt local habits. So you have to live with the fact that it is sometimes not easy to coordinate your own lessons. Sometimes the room is not available or there is another project your pupils are involved in, you are not aware of. It seems that things in general are not that organized as they are in Europe. On the other hand this is also a part a volunteer can make a positive contribution, helping the school in organizing things.

The Peruvian people are very friendly and integrate you in their community, if they feel your intention to help them. In class it can be very noisy, but all in all it is a pleasure to work with Peruvian pupils. Besides my role as a teacher, some regard you as a kind of friend.

My time in Peru was full of new impressions, nice people and a lot of experiences. I learned Spanish in the beginners' course and after 4 weeks I was already able to speak with the native people.

Most I liked my time in Calca, where I worked at the Kindergarten and school. I starts at the first day, when the Kindergarten was opened after the summer break, and could help to get the new children used to the new situation. It was their first time without their moms and so I had to do a lot, to help them feel good. And in the end no children cried anymore. The trust of the children felt very good and I'm glad, that I was a support for the teacher and children.

In school I worked in a first class together with a very nice teacher. We corrected the first letters and started with mathematics. But most of the children started to ask me every time they saw me: “Do you speak English? What's my name in English?” It took a lot of time to calm them down. In the end I was a normal part of the school and could help.

Like everything in Peru it took time to get used to my new learned Spanish, but after a while when I went to the market, I noticed I didn't need to speak English anymore.

Overall I like to remember the time and the people I met, learned a new language and saw a beautiful, different and cordially culture.

I worked with Peru Volunteer for six months. My time in Peru started with a Spanish language course, where I was taught by very kind and capable teachers. At that time, I already got to know some other volunteers. I became good friends with some people of the organization and I am still in contact with them in Germany.

After the first month, I started with the volunteer projects. Besides working in the kindergarten, I also gave English classes and supported the sport teachers occasionally. That is also a point I really liked about the organization. Everything was very flexible and the coordinators were interested in what you wanted to do and how your projects worked. The coolest thing at the project in the kindergarten was the openness of the children towards the volunteers. In a short period you build close relationships with the children and they really enjoy playing with you.

During your work, you will get to difficult and challenging moments not only once. Due to language barriers and cultural differences you possibly bump into some misunderstandings. But if you are having an open attitude and you are willing to learn from these difficult situations, then you can develop yourself so much in six months with Peru Volunteer.

Personally, I can really recommend Peru Volunteer (and Cusco which is a city with a great historical atmosphere)!

Ich heiße Martha und war 2014 von Oktober bis Dezember in Peru Teil eines wundervollen sozialen Projektes. Begonnen hat alles mit einem einmonatigen Sprachkurs. Ich hatte Spanischunterricht schon vorher in der Schule, jedoch glaube ich das nichts effektiver ist als von einem Einheimischen im Land selbst eine Sprache zu lernen. Der Spanischkurs hat mir beim Projekt und auch beim alltäglichen Leben in Peru sehr geholfen.

Während dem Projekt habe ich in in dem Dorf Calca mit noch anderen Volontären gelebt. Wir sind dadurch alle sehr zusammengewachsen und es war eine lustige Zeit miteinander. Unterrichtet habe ich an verschiedenen Schulen Sport und Englisch entweder alleine, mit einem Lehrer oder einem anderen Voluntär. Die Arbeit an den Schulen hat viel Spaß gemacht, war manchmal anstrengend und teilweise sehr bewegend. Gut war, das während dem Projekt eigentlich immer auf unsere Probleme und Anregungen zur Gestaltung des Projekts eingegangen wurde und auch meine Zeit und den Unterricht konnte ich selbst gestalten.

Peru ist ein einzigartiges, vielseitiges, buntes Land, welches aber auch einige Schattenseiten hat. Ich kann jedem empfehlen sich von diesem Land und seiner Kultur mitnehmen zu lassen. Vor allem durch das Voluntariat und alles darum habe ich unglaubliche Erfahrungen gemacht, bin selbstständiger geworden und habe viele sehr gute neue Freunde kennengelernt und mich selbst weiter entwickelt.