- Awamaki is a Peru-based U.S. non-profit that offers community development volunteer opportunities in Peru's Sacred Valley.sacred valley peru image by JJAVA from Fotolia.com
Volunteering as an alternative to a traditional vacation can offer travelers once-in-a-lifetime experiences of cultural immersion in a country as welcoming and diverse as Peru. Activities available to volunteers are similar--often teaching English, health care, education and construction--but differ depending on whether you volunteer directly with an organization or go through a group that places you in a volunteer program. The kind of support and the accommodations available, along with where the organization is based, can also affect your experience. - Cross Cultural Solutions is a U.S. based non-profit that places volunteers with charity projects in 12 countries, including Peru. Volunteers can care for children and the elderly, assist health professionals or teach English for one to twelve weeks in either Lima or Ayacucho. The Ayacucho program offers a four-week internship that can be tailored to university credit. As of August 2010, program fees begin at $1,853 for one week, $2,784 for two weeks and $3,748 for four week and include "cultural and learning activities," lodging, meals, full time support staff, a 24-hour emergency hotline and travel medical insurance.
- Pisco Sin Fronteras is an all volunteer organization working on disaster reconstruction. The group was started by American and European volunteers from Burners Without Borders who originally came to provide disaster relief after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake destroyed 80 percent of the city of Pisco in August 2007. Geared toward the more intrepid volunteer, Pisco Sin Fronteras doesn't offer the same creature comforts as placement organizations but only charges 16 soles per day for three meals and accommodations (as of August 2010, about $5.70). This experience offers an atmosphere of camaraderie as well as the flexibility of staying as long as you wish and placing yourself in a project that suits your interests.
- BUNAC is an international organization that offers placement in work/travel and volunteer programs around the world for young people as "an enriching and affordable alternative to package tourism." Volunteers in BUNAC's Peru program must be "aged 18 to 35 at the time of travel, a student or recent graduate" and "conversant in Spanish." Volunteers are placed in a community development project on the outskirts of Lima and work in local health centers and schools. The $1,460 program fee for four weeks includes accommodation with a local family; two meals per day, six days a week; airport transfer; and support before and during the placement.
- Awamaki is a Peru-based U.S. non-profit that promotes community development in Ollantaytambo, in the heart of the Sacred Valley of Cusco. Awamaki is a small organization that relies on volunteers for much of its work, including specific placements in its weaving cooperative, health promotion, afterschool education, photography, sustainable tourism and environmental education projects. Fees include a one-time donation of $650, which funds a month of accommodations in a local home stay, and a monthly $250 home-stay fee thereafter, although the fee can be waived for volunteers who teach English for three months or work with the weaving project for six months. Given the degree of cultural immersion, Awamaki strongly suggests learning Spanish before volunteering and offers a Spanish teacher who can teach private or group lessons four to eight hours a week on site for a small fee.
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