Overview
Do you want to develop your teaching skills where it will be most appreciated?
Lima houses roughly a third of Peru’s entire population so it’s no wonder it cuts a somewhat untidy figure as it bursts at the seams. Such a big city in such a small country, Lima has experienced the predictable invasion of people from the countryside in search of a better life. As a result, parts of the city have become very overcrowded and resources can’t stretch to meet the needs of everyone. The schools we work with need volunteers to teach English to their students, as they have very limited budgets. Though underfunded, these schools still offer the children their best hope of an education and a better future, and your efforts make that more likely.
Trip Highlights:
- Helping to improve the English language abilities of the children at your project
- Sampling the wonderful food of Lima - rightly famous for it's seafood
- Getting to know your homestay family. Probably the best way to understand Peruvian life
Fast Facts
Project Information
- Project Duration: Min 4 weeks - Max 12 weeks
- Project Costs: €1159.00 for 4 weeks, €160.00 for every week thereafter
- Location of project:Lima
- Arrival Airport:Lima (airport code LIM)
- Activities:Teaching English and other subjects
- Working Hours:Flexible; Monday to Friday around 5 hours a day, all other time is free
- Getting to the project:10 -15 minutes by public transport or can walk. (budget approximately US$4 per week for a small bus, US$16 for a taxi)
- Requirements:Minimum age 18
- Other:Semana Santa (Latin America Holy week) will be from April 15th to April 24th 2011 and March 30th to April 8th 2012, you may have some disruptions to the placement during this time. Please note that some schools may also take short holidays without prior notice
What's Included
- Accommodation:Shared room in homestay
- Food:Breakfast and dinner
- Airport Pickup:Included on arrival date. Ask us for details if you're arriving early!
- Training:In-country orientation and Online TEFL course
- Support:Pre-departure helpdesk, Local in-country team and 24hr emergency support
What's not included
- Flights, Insurance, Visas, Return Airport transfer, Local Transport, Food (lunch not provided)
Itinerary & Details
We work with several schools in Lima, Peru's capital. One school is a mixed public school that was founded in 1964, at the primary level there are 12 teachers and 24 classrooms, each class having approximately 30 children. An English teaching progamme has been introduced at this level and the school is needing help for this to continue.
Another school was founded in 1964 and was named in honour of a Peruvian hero who fought at the Pacific war against Chile. There are 14 teachers in the primary level and 22 teachers in the secondary level. Classrooms comprise of about 25 children, primary level are aged 6 to 12 years and secondary level are aged 13 to 17 years.
The schools need volunteers to teach English to their students, as they have very limited resources, in common with many schools in Peru. Volunteers are very much appreciated for their native English, teaching skills, hard work and enthusiasm! Volunteers who can help are highly valued for the skills and positive attitude they bring.
You need to have basic level Spanish to work in the schools, and you should learn as much as you can before you go. You should be a confident communicator, enjoy working with children, patient and above all hard working and enthusiastic!
Typical activities include teaching English to the students. You will also need to spend some time planning your lessons that you will teach making them as fun adn exciting as possible!
One of the schools is based in Miraflores, a nice neighbourhood well known as Lima's most important area for entertainment, shopping etc. Accommodation is in Lima based on homestays with a local family. They are all comfortable and well equipped with electricity, running water, hot showers etc.
The other school is located in Magdalena del Mar, a quiet district, close to Miraflores. Accommodation is in Lima based on homestays with a local family. They are all comfortable and well equipped with electricity, running water, hot showers etc.
You will need to arrive into Lima (LIM) on your specified arrival date, the team in country must be aware of your flight details at least a week prior to arrival.
What exactly do i-to-i provide?
It may seem like a strange concept to pay for your volunteer experience. You'd be right if you think you shouldn't and the truth is you actually don't! Your placement is free; it's the benefits around it that you pay for. It's important to note that i-to-i is a travel company and not a charity. We provide a professional travel service. We are responsible for finding and assessing worthwhile projects across the world, preparing you fora the volunteering experience and supporting you whilst you're there.
Here’s some more information about what your placement fee covers….
Project sourcing and assessment
We work with hundreds of locally run partner projects around the world and are constantly sourcing new opportunities. We visit all projects to check that they are worthwhile and legitimate and we also conduct a thorough safety assessment before we'll send volunteers there. More
Expert help-desk
Almost everyone who works for i-to-i has traveled extensively or worked overseas. This means we're a goldmine of information; we're always available to offer support and guidance before, during and after your trip.
Thorough project briefing materials
Once you book on to a project you'll receive a Welcome Pack that contains loads of general information about volunteering, about your chosen country and how to have fun and stay safe. We'll also give you advice on visas and inoculations.
TEFL training
If you are volunteering on a Teaching project then a 60-hour Online TEFL course is included in your placement fee. This is an internationally recognised and accredited certificate that will help you to make the most of your time overseas. More
Airport pickup
It can be pretty daunting arriving in a different country for the first time - especially after a long flight! If you arrive on your project start date, there'll be a welcoming face at the airport to pick you up and take you to your accommodation.
Arrival orientation
Soon after you arrive you will attend a thorough orientation with our in-country team. This is to cover important safety and security information. You'll also get some tips about sight-seeing options for your time off and maybe even learn some of the local lingo!
Accommodation and meals
Accommodation is included with all projects and meals are even included with some. We only use locally-owned and operated accommodation so that part of your placement fee is filtering back into the local economy. Most projects offer homestay, guesthouse or shared volunteer houses as standard accommodation, but some offer the chance to upgrade to a more comfortable living standard. More
Local in-country coordinators
Your in-country team will arrange a pick-up for you at the airport and will conduct your orientation upon arrival. All coordination teams are English speaking and are locals of your destination country. They won't be at your project every day, but will be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week if you need them. More
24/7 emergency support
Aside from the local support from your in-country team you'll be given access to a 24/7 emergency phone line manned by our response team in case any problem should arise while you're overseas. We also hire crisis management professionals to be on hand in case of a situation that requires additional expert support. More
Ongoing training
The safety and security of our volunteers is paramount. For this reason we provide ongoing crisis management and emergency response training to our local teams around the world. We also fly in our in-country coordinators to the UK regularly for thorough training to help them offer the best safety to the thousands of volunteers they support each year. More
Supporting our projects
We don't fund our projects directly from the project fee that you pay us. Instead we choose to support a number of projects every year through a grant scheme for tangible long-term initiatives. In the last 3 years we have distributed over US$250,000 to our most needy projects to help them in the great work they do.
Recruiting people like you
We make no secrets of the fact that part of your placement fee is reinvested in to recruiting volunteers just like you! The volunteers recruited in one week will typically deliver over 2000 man-days of service. The difference this makes to projects overseas is immeasurable. Many of our overseas projects rely on assistance from international volunteers, so it's necessary for us to put together brochures and websites to find the people who can support them. This recruitment process is vital to ensure programs have a constant stream of reliable volunteers.
The intangible benefits
Volunteering through a company like i-to-i has a lot of intangible benefits to developing overseas communities and the individual projects that we work with. To find out more about our placements. click here
Next Steps
What we will do after you've booked:
Once booked on you will instantly receive a welcome email confirming your booking with access to your online account
We will send a Welcome Pack in the post containing further information and a t-shirt, the information in this pack should answer most things you need to know
Teaching customers will receive an email introducing them to their Online TEFL course
Community Development and Teaching customers will be requested to complete a police check (where relevant)
We will contact you if we require anything else e.g. CV/resume for some projects, doctors note for medical conditions etc.
We will prepare for your trip and send you an email with confirmation of your project and accommodation 2 weeks after you've booked
We will ask you to complete your forms and pay your final balance if they are still due when required
We are available for any questions you may have on +44 1132 050 076 or support@i-to-i.com
What you need to do after booking your place with us:
Book your flights
Arrange suitable travel insurance
Fill out some extra details through our online interface:
- Application from
- Travel details
- Insurance details
- Medical information
- Emergency contacts
Complete your police check if requested
Do your Online TEFL Course (where relevant)
Make final payment at least 90 days before you go
Make sure you have a visa for your trip if it's needed
Visit a nurse or travel clinic for advice on inoculations and malaria prevention
Read all details and prepare as much as you can for your trip
Take contact details of the in country team and where you're going in your hand luggage - just in case!
Get on the plane!
Flights & Insurance
Insurance
It's important that you get adequate travel insurance for your i-to-i experience and as many of you will be working this often means standard policies won’t work. The good news is that no matter where your coming from we have already found a policy to suit you.
The best time to get your insurance is when you book your project as this means you can get a fully tailored policy exclusive to i-to-i, just ask your consultant for further details at the time of booking.
EU Customers – find out more here >>
Australian customers - find out more here >>
All other customers - find out more here >>
Flights
As with insurance we advise you get these booked as early as possible to avoid high prices and to make sure you arrive on the right day. The i-to-i team is right up to date with the best deals no matter where you’re flying from; their insider knowledge could save you some time and money.
Early Airport Pick-up
If you are arriving before your designated arrival date, we can arrange for an extra meet and greet service for you. For an extra supplement we will be there to meet you at the airport and take you to your orientation accommodation. One additional night a
The cost of this Early Pick-up service is €20.00
A little bit of history...
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Home to a myriad of advanced Andean civilisations, Peru is renowned as the centre of the vast Inca Empire which extended its influence through to parts of Ecuador and Chile from the 13th century onwards. The Inca’s lost control to the Spanish who colonised the country in the 16th century and exploited the country for gold and silver. It wasn’t until 300 years later that Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín achieved independence for Peru. Post-independence, the country was racked by a border dispute with Chile which resulted in Peru losing part of its land. Conflict erupted between Ecuador in 1941 over land ownership and Peru emerged the victor, but not without repercussions in 1981 and 1995; an agreement was made between the countries in 1998.
From 1968 the country was under military rule until it returned to a democracy-led government in 1980. However, its stability was weakened throughout much of the 1980s due to economic woes and the rise of left-wing terrorist organisations. In recent years Peru’s political landscape has been tainted with tales of scandal and corruption, and threats from rebels. The country is making strides towards a more stabilised future with the government intending to improve social conditions, develop its export business and grow its economy.
Best time to go…
Peru’s southern hemisphere location dictates that its dry summers are from December to March and its wet winter months run between April and November. Its dynamic landscape means there are regional variations to consider. The coastal region is hot and sunny during summer, while the winter period is characterised by cooler temperatures, though still humid, and a hazy mist is a frequent occurrence. Year-round the waters are cool to cold and only get comfortably warm in the most northern coastal areas. In the Andes, the best time to go trekking is from June to September when the area is at its driest though the nights can get distinctively cool. The Amazon jungle is at its best from May to September after the heavy rains have subsided and the water levels have dropped making it easier to access remote areas by boat and catch sight of rare wildlife.
Getting around...
Time-saving but budget busting, flying is a convenient way of crossing Peru’s huge distances. Major cities are no more than a two hour flight from Lima and domestic carriers Lan Peru, Aerocondor and Star Peru offer flights to prime destinations. Smaller carriers such as LC Busre provide charter services to more remote destinations. In addition, at Lima’s Jorge Chavez airport, the main flight hub, there are also several independent companies that have light aircraft destined for areas off the beaten track. It’s essential to confirm flight bookings 72 hours before departure and to get to the airport 2 hours before take off. Airlines have been known to bump people off flights for not arriving ahead of time and giving the seats to those on the waiting list. There is also a departure tax for all domestic flights, currently $7.
The most popular way of getting around is by bus. The distances can be arduous – the road trip from Lima to Cuzco is 20 hours compared to an hour’s flying time – but there are some redeeming features to be had from staring at the open road for hours on end. It’s inexpensive and there are regular services between major places of interest. In remote areas, buses can amount to rough and ready trucks but in towns and cities comfort is at hand in the shape of luxurious buses, such as bus company Cruz del Sur, whose fleet are equipped with reclining seats, air-conditioning and other mod cons. It’s best to travel by day as armed robberies have been known to occur at night. The existence of police checkpoints en route means it’s imperative to have your passport close at hand.
Although expensive and limited compared to the country’s bus network, trains in Peru work better as visitor attractions than a means of getting around. PeruRail operates the main scenic routes, including Cusco to Machu Picchu which takes less than four hours. On a comfort level, trains in Peru vary from hard-seated, overcrowded carriages in economy class to expensive, comfortable seating complete with a dining area and waitress service, as well as better security, in its top class carriages.
The main car rental companies such as Avis and Hertz have a presence in Peru but it takes an experienced driver to tackle the country’s roads. Driving in Lima or excessively long distances is not advisable. A more practical route would be to fly to your given destination and rent a car for shorter distances.
Getting around the local environs is an easy feat, with an abundance of buses and taxis to choose from. Local buses consist of micros (small buses) and combis (essentially vans that run as private buses), as well as colectivos which are like combis that cover regular routes between towns. Fares are cheap, space is limited and the buses can easily be flagged down from the side of the road. Taxis are readily available but be aware of the flux of unregistered taxis that ply for trade. Also, it’s necessary to negotiate a fare before the getting into a taxi.
Useful links
www.lonelyplanet.com
Lonely Planet are leaders in the travel guide sector and their website is a great source of travel information.
www.fco.gov.uk
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s website provides up-to-date political news, travel advice and information on visas
www.aerocondor.com.pe
Domestic airline Aerocondor
www.cruzdelsur.com.pe
Bus company Cruz del Sur
www.lcbusre.com.pe
Domestic airline LC Busre
www.lanperu.com
Domestic airline Lan Peru
www.perurail.com
Railway operator PeruRail
www.starperu.com
Domestic airline Star Peru
www.wayra.com.pe
Domestic airline Wayra Peru
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