My return to Peru

I am Juany Murphy the International Liaison Manager of Otra Cosa Network. I wanted to take this opportunity to share a bit about the work I have been doing over the past 2 and a bit months. Since I started work with OCN in 2005 we are now a well-established Peruvian NGO and English charity where I have had the privilege to be able to work in both England and Huanchaco- Trujillo, my place of origin. I am now based in England with my family and wanted to share with you the time I spent back in Huanchaco and Peru where I welcomed and inducted our new management team in Peru.

Going back to Peru every year is a fantastic opportunity to see the projects and the work in action. Part of my role is to disseminate the work of OCN and create awareness of the political, social and economic issues facing Peru through our projects. This year I took my 7 year old boy Joseph with me.  It was very hard to leave my husband Peter and my other two boys behind as we have never been separated for longer than a week.

I arrived in mid-June with both the new Manager from North America and Assistant Manager Laura from England. We were so excited to start our new phase at OCN. The first week went so quickly just introducing them to their new life and taking them to as many projects as we could fit in.

The second week of training included a trip to Yanasara, a small village in the middle of a valley 6 hours up in the Highlands of La Libertad department. We were welcomed by the school as dignitaries. The Head teacher organised the Official Welcoming Ceremony with one of our volunteers working there. This special welcoming ceremony included the National Anthem and greeting our national flag with singing and dancing. They also took this opportunity to express their gratitude towards the help that OCN has provided them with. It was such a special and emotional ceremony.

We had a beautiful day with all the students who wanted to talk to us and get to know us. In Peru we demonstrate affection through food. And no matter how poor the ‘campesinos’ are they prepared a nice ‘cuyada’ - Guinea pig roast dinner. Many families have learnt to grow guinea pigs so this is the most exquisite dish here.

We were appointed ‘Padrinos’ (godparents) for the ‘promocion’ (high school graduation). This means that the 14 students of fifth year will receive some kind of economic support providing them many opportunities in the future.

We left on a lorry on a Sunday because there were no “micros” (minibuses) to go back and we could have missed our bus from Huamachuco to Trujillo. So there we were travelling in a lorry. The panoramic view is just amazing and after 4 hours we took our bus to Trujillo. The bus broke down twice but finally we took another bus. After a long journey we finally arrived home at 4:30 in the morning. Expedition achieved!

The third week we started with the Skate Ramp, an OCN project where we work with more than 25 children in a tiny shanty town, Cerrito de la Virgen. They go there to learn skating and also once a week we take them to the beach to learn to swim, surf and enjoy the beach. We also use this as a space to help the children with their homework as most of their parents only have primary school education.

We work in this community with more than 250 families. The children have absolutely nothing. With the initiative of one volunteer we decided to create a space where the children could be supervised and play freely and protected as many of them were just been left alone in the streets all day long while their parents go to work. This has proved to be an incredible success. For instance the Surf school has made surfing a sport accessible to the children of Cerrito.

Week 4: We went back to Cerrito de la Virgin a community of more or less 250 families where we have had a presence here for 2 years now. We are trying to create a women’s space with a group of mothers there where they can feel free to talk about women’s issues. One of the sisters from the Catholic Church told me that their local Priest had been given a sewing machine. We had one of our volunteers willing to fund the women’s project. I felt so excited and spoke with the other women in order to assess their needs and what they would like to do. We had the centre, the sewing machine, the willingness to learn something that can help not only to make their uniforms for schooling next year but maybe create a little income. Therefore, we decided - yes let’s go ahead.

Week 5: We commenced the preparations such as purchasing the materials and finding the sewing teacher. Nanna, a Danish student volunteering with us, was appointed to look after and help organise the micro-project which has now continued to grow into a project much more than just sewing classes. It is a place where we can help empower women.

Paul & Lucy Volunteering in Huanchaco …!

Six months into our travel through South America, we were lucky enough to find ourselves in beautiful Huanchaco. After spending a few days in town we were seduced by the long days of sunshine and relaxed atmosphere and decided to look into some volunteer options, as it´s such a perfect spot to stop for a while and enjoy life by the beach.  We emailed Otra Cosa Network and had a reply from the lovely Laura within half an hour, enough said a few days later we were all organised with volunteer positions to suit us both. Paul in the office 4hours a day, as his background is online marketing. I (Lucy) am a nurse in Australia, and was keen to be working with children. I was placed in a Wawa Wasi a daycare project for 4 hours each morning (20hrs a week).

Paul had a great time in the office, helping the Otra Cosa Network team with new ideas to spread the word and encourage more volunteers to come and help in this great part of the world. Wawa Wasi is a fantastic government funded project, which selects a mother living in a disadvantaged area to provide daycare for 8 children every day, so their parents can try to find much needed work. The children are aged between 6months to 4 years, and as you can imagine, that is quite a handful for any one person. I was able to get involved and help straight away as there was always something to be done. The children were absolutely gorgeous and a pleasure to spend time with, as was my Madre (mother) Anita, who was running the Wawa Wasi I was volunteering at.

An important part of the Wawa Wasi was mealtime, and the food provided is fantastic. The children get breakfast, a hot lunch, and lots of fruit and snacks in between. For most of the children this was the main food for their day, as they may otherwise have been eating white bread and rice, not what growing bodies need! I soon learnt not to look the other way during mealtime, otherwise their hands would be straight into the bowl of food and suddenly it was across the table, chair and any other child nearby!

After traveling through South America for so many months, we had been through poor areas but it was quite different to be involved and see the poverty first hand. An eye opener, especially for Paul as he had been in the office, was the day trip to visit all the volunteer projects Otra Cosa Network are involved with, which included many schools, homes for orphans and the rubbish tip, where there are many families actually living, or surviving amongst the rubbish.  This was such an important day, and I encourage all volunteers to go along.

When I finished I gave the children a book, which they absolutely loved, as they only had one other book there to read, and they wouldn´t put it down! I felt empowered whilst volunteering at the Wawa Wasi and it was a nice change for us to have a break from traveling, help and be a part of the community. This is what volunteering is about, an experience that Otra Cosa Network was able to provide. THANK YOU!

We are now continuing our travels north towards Canada, feel free to check out our travel blog here: www.thenomadway.com

Diego's time teaching English in Huanchaco

My name is Diego, I was born in Brazil and raised in Spain. After finishing my bachelor in Economics I decided to travel to Peru to volunteer as an English teacher for 6 weeks. So, I arrived in Huanchaco on the 17th of July and the day after I had my induction with Otra Cosa Network (OCN).

On my first day of work the OCN’s assistant director, Laura, walked with me to the school I was supposed to teach at, Escuela Primaria Maria del Socorro which was two blocks away from the office. I was introduced to the school principal who offered me a working schedule after a long and interesting conversation. In the beginning I was supposed to work only three days a week, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, from 8h15 until 12h00 and teach 3rd, 5th and 6th grade. At the end my schedule was changed so I could teach every class of every grade but I still worked less than 20 hours per week.

By that time, I had never taught English before and it was a challenge for me to be able to control a class of around 20 students in Peru. I was surprised to see that the children behaved really well and were delighted with my Spanish accent. Soon after, I was known in the neighbourhood as “el teacher Diego” and I was really pleased with their eagerness to learn.  I would say that if you want to be an English teacher in Huanchaco, the better you speak Spanish the more control you can have over the class but, in the other hand, I truly believe that the most important characteristic needed in this case is the teacher’s personality and his/her charisma with the kids. In fact teaching English in Peru is an excellent way for non-Spanish speakers to improve their Spanish.

A few weeks after my arrival, I was invited by some other volunteers to have a look in the afternoons at another local project, called the SKATE RAMP in the humblest part of Huanchaco, called El Cerrito de la Virgen. Our goal was not only to keep the children away from the streets but also to help them with their homework, take them surfing or to the cinema. Gradually I was seduced by the existent freedom to create any activity we wanted over there. As money was the biggest barrier to our ideas, we decided to raise some funds by ourselves. As an example two volunteers, Agathe (France) and Andy (England), decided to sell juice on the beach and raised more than 100 soles. Some weeks after, Andy and me, we thought of doing a charity quiz at a local hostel by the beach and we raised 146 soles. The quiz was a success in every way and we will repeat it every two weeks. Right before I left we were meeting up with all the volunteers implicated in the project in order to decide how to invest our own funds. Probably we will build a ping pong table and a play house at the ramp.

On weekends we are free to discover the surroundings of Trujillo, the biggest city near Huanchaco. Two places that no one misses are the Chan Chan Ruins and the Huaca de la Luna Ruins. The first belonged to the Chimues culture during the fifth century and the second belonged to the Moches culture 10.000 years ago. It is also possible to travel to other important cities over the weekend, like Chiclayo (3 hours trip) or Huaraz (8 hours trip). I’ve been to both and I loved them. Chiclayo is famous for its Señor de Sipán Ruins and Huaraz for having the highest mountain in Peru called Huascarán. If you are planning on doing a bigger trip, you can always ask permission from OCN and to your school and take some time off from your project to travel. Usually what most people do is to finish their project one week before their departure day, so they take some holidays.

Where to stay in Huanchaco? Basically there are two options. First is to stay in a local family house and second is to stay in a hostel. I would say that hostels are the best option to socialize with new people while a family house is recommended if you want to get more involved with the local culture. During my stay, I was very lucky to contact a previous volunteer from Mexico who recommended me a hostel called Mc Callum. I could not imagine my stay in Huanchaco without Mc Callum as almost every single day I met new interesting people, however I understand it is not the best choice if you want silence from 10 o’clock in the evening. It is not the cheapest option either (single room is 20 soles a day while others charge 10 or 15) but it offers 24 hours a day internet connection and all day hot water shower. Besides it is very safe, has a good location and the owner, Patricia, is a sweetheart. Referring to family houses I would recommend Luis’ House as the owner is a very interesting person and the volunteers staying there are very happy.

My experience was very positive. I feel that I learned more from the kids than I taught them. I tried to make them associate learning English with something really fun and I would like to believe that I succeeded on making them see that there is life outside Peru and English would be a key to many future doors.  Please feel free to ask OCN to give you my contact details if you would like to contact m with any questions. And as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said: “Treat a man as he appears to be, and you make him worse but treat a man as he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.”


Click here to apply and find out more about teaching English in Huanchaco. Or click here to apply and find out more about the Cerrito Skate Ramp project.

Katie at Casita de Madera!

PAINTING CASITA DE MADERA

Last Saturday saw an expedition force of Otra Cosa volunteers descend on Casita de Madera all in the name of redecorating.  The goal for our paintbrush wielding task force was to redecorate Casita de Madera in Villa Los Angeles, on the outskirts of Huanchaco.  Casita de Madera is a daycare centre for children aged 5-8, aimed at improving their skills before they enter school.  The building which houses the kindergarten, as the name suggests, is a little wooden house and although recently weatherproofed on the outside, the inside was a bare, dusty and pretty uninspiring place for the children to spend their time.  And so armed with paintbrushes, paint and a rake or two we arrived ready to transform the Casita....

Cue problem number one....no running water at the Casita.  Its quite amazing the things you take for granted.   Having had to beg, steal and borrow paintbrushes and rollers we were a little concerned that our chosen colour scheme might come to nothing since we couldn't clean our brushes.  Never fear, a rummage around the room later and we had volunteers armed with the children's mini  paintbrushes ready to brighten up the room.  While the female of the species were busy redecorating inside the Casita, the guys took charge of the heavy lifting outside, transforming the existing, rubble strewn 'playground' into a safe area for the kids to play in.  Utilising landscape gardening skills I don't think anyone knew they possessed, rubble was cleared, paths were built, slides were painted and the whole area was raked clear of debris.  Whilst all the work was going on we had local mums and children casting a watchful eye over proceedings, keeping the volunteers in check and also providing us with some much needed cold refreshments.  They day also lent itself to some impromptu English lessons for the kids as they learnt new words from the guys in the playground and then ran up to the Casita to practice them with us girls.

Whilst the sauna conditions in the Casita, combined with the spiders and flies led to moments of complaints from us all at some point, they also provided moments of reflection.  You realise that these are the conditions the kids are living in everyday, worlds away from the bright and well equipped daycare centres that we are used to back home.  Seeing the end product of our day, how just a little bit of paint and a clear up transformed the Casita into a much more cheerful place was massively rewarding.  It was also a really great opportunity for me to do some hands on volunteering.  I work here as an office volunteer and so don't get to spend as much time as other volunteers with the kids at the projects, so getting to work outside and see tangible results at the end of the day was hugely important.  Experiencing the conditions at Casita, with the multitude of flies also motivated the volunteers into a fundraising drive to raise money for fly nets.  Such a simple addition but something that will make a massive difference for the children who attend Casita.   And at the end of the day, helping to make a difference to peoples lives is why we are all here.

Click here to apply and find out more about volunteering at Casita de Madera.

Lessons learned by Lucy

MY EXPERIENCE AS AN OTRA COSA VOLUNTEER

The sights, sounds and spirit of Latin America were calling me back.  Having spent time in Mexico I was desperate to get back to that side of the world from the drizzly UK.  But backpacking didn’t really appeal.  I wanted to spend some time in a place, to be part of a community and to do something fulfilling that would help others and myself.  So I decided to volunteer.  I persuaded my boyfriend Ed to come with me and after comparing numerous volunteer options all over South America we eventually settled on Otra Cosa.  It offered a wide choice of projects in which we would both be able to use existing skills and develop new ones and it seemed to be a well-run and successful organisation.  It was an added bonus that we would be living in the traditional fishing community of Huanchaco with its year-round sunshine and kilometres of sandy beach.  

I have worked as an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) Teacher for about 2.5 years so the Otra Cosa project which appealed to me was the EFL Co-Ordinator role.  HELP English is the branch of OCN which provides free English classes in school and community settings in Huanchaco and surrounding towns and it would be my job to organise and develop these classes. 

Through very efficient contact from OCN staff Emily and Najin, our project roles were finalised and our accommodation arranged – we were to live in the OCN volunteer house – and in February we arrived in Huanchaco.  Our first day as official OCN volunteers coincided with a project tour.  All the volunteers (about 25 of us) piled into a bus and with Emily and Najin as designated tour guides, complete with microphones, we visited 8 different projects that OCN is involved with. 

The tour was a real eye-opener and great insight into some of the valuable work that OCN is doing.  Particularly prominent memories for me include the Puesto de Salud in Huanchaquito which caters for the health of an entire town on a budget of 100 soles (about 35 dollars) per month.  Also the El Milagro project which reaches out to a community who have set up home on a rubbish dump as it provides them with a source of income.  Driving into El Milagro and seeing how these families live was quite a shock and it is somewhat humbling to know that there are people out there who are willing to help them. 

The project tour fell on a Friday so we had the weekend to settle in to Huanchaco life before starting our projects the following Monday.  Living in the volunteer house meant we were in the hub of the OC social life with a stream of people coming and going.  This was a little overwhelming at first but it turned out to be a great way to get to know the other volunteers and make new friends and OCN does seem to attract a certain breed of fantastic people!  Our first Friday in the volunteer house was a good example of OCN’s lively social aspect with a full-house for a volunteer despedida.  Saturday was the first of many laid-back Huanchaco beach days and on Sunday a group of volunteers including myself and Ed set out to climb Cerro de Campana, the rocky hill that looms over Huanchaco to the north.  But that’s a story for another blog! 

My EFL Co-Ordinator work was based in the Otra Cosa office.  This was the first time I had worked in an office one floor above my bedroom, adorned with Justin Bieber posters  and with such entertaining chat from my colleagues. It was a very pleasant working atmosphere and, despite the unconventional set-up, I managed to get some work done.  During my 2 months as EFL Co-Ordinator I made a start on bringing some structure to HELP English.   I used knowledge gained in my previous EFL work to develop curriculums for the children’s and adult classes and also made a series of lesson plans and gathered materials and activities to help future volunteer teachers. 

In addition to my office work I also taught classes.  On Monday – Thursday I spent one hour per day at Las Lomas Primary School and on Tuesday – Thursday at 4.30 – 7pm I had adult classes at Huanchaco Library. 

My experience at Las Lomas school was exactly that – an experience!  Las Lomas is a deprived community and the operation of the school differed dramatically to what I was accustomed to in the UK.  The school has no running water (((????))), very limited materials and a different system of rules and discipline in place which meant classes could sometimes be a little chaotic to say the least!  I was also limited by my lack of Spanish and had to urgently learn some common commands – sit down, listen, stop trying to kill each other etc!  And even then it was questionable whether the kids would listen to my commands, correct or not.  But there were positive aspects too.  The kids are very sweet and affectionate with each other and with the teachers. I was always greeted with hugs and kisses.  Also the teachers who worked in the school in these difficult conditions were an inspiration.  They had patience and humour and just the right balance between kindness and strictness.  And the classes weren’t always chaos.  When the children learned something and enjoyed themselves it was very rewarding. 

My adult classes at the library were an entirely different story. Aside from the obvious lack of discipline issues (adults rarely jump on tables and pull each other’s hair!) the classes were easy and enjoyable and that was down to the students.  Although some didn’t have a great level of English they were hard-working, enthusiastic and fun.  In class we talked about everything from cake to politics, education to salsa music.  The students learned new grammatical structures, vocabulary and increased in confidence when it came to speaking and conversing in English. Getting to know my library students and helping them to learn was one of the highlights of my volunteer experience. 

Life as an OC volunteer in Huanchaco wasn’t all about work.  Free time activities included studying Spanish, trips to Trujillo and the nearby archaeological sights of Chan Chan and Huaca del Sol, yoga, games nights and Latin dance classes.  And of course there is always lots of food to be sampled and socialising to be done!   Surf is always up in Huanchaco and watching the ‘surfistas’ cruising the waves was another favourite pastime.  My own attempts on a board mostly consisted of toppling awkwardly into the water but the few times I did manage to stay standing and ride a wave to the shore gave me a taste for it. One day............... 

Living in Huanchaco, although sometimes in a bit of a gringo bubble, was also a good introduction to Peruvian life and culture.  During our stay we witnessed Carnaval, a vibrant and colourful procession and fiesta the likes of which is very lacking in the UK.  Also ‘El Palo’ – a traditional event that sees people old and young indulging in paint-throwing, tree-climbing and plenty of eating, drinking and dancing.  And there were the quirky elements of day to day life – the sound of the bread man on his bicycle, the ‘hola amigos’ from complete strangers, the chanting of the bus and collectivo workers, the bargain menu lunches and fantastic fruit juices and the inescapable musical soundtrack.  Huanchaco life has a flavour all of its own. 

Overall my time with OC allowed me to contribute to something worthwhile, make new friends from all over the world, gain experience for my future career, learn about a different culture and provided me with a myriad of happy memories.  The experience will stay with me and I would recommend it to anyone. 


Click here to apply and find out more about volunteering as an EFL Co-ordinator or English teacher.                                                                                              

Eliza's Experience: The Baby Talks

Even though it took me over a month to attempt skateboarding, it took me two minutes to laugh with Christian or want to hug Walter. When a day arrived when the helping out at the restaurant may have caused some hair loss, all I needed to do was lose at some games of ping pong or chess in Cerrito to feel at peace. The lives of those children can be far from peaceful, but when they are having so much fun at the ramp, I forget about the tourist who wanted salt, pepper, aji, lemon, honey AND olive oil with her meal. I forget about the stray cat peeing on my laundry and the stain on my shirt. All I can do is breathe, smile, and be thankful to be with these kids.

        It is hard not to stick your head out of the TukTuk down the dusty road on the way to the ramp. Even if the kids would hide the keys at you, throw water balloons and cause a ruckus, you can´t help but laugh. For the first month you wonder how the kids live life barefoot, doing turns on the skate ramp or playing football (soccer) at the losita. The more creativity the better when it comes to this project! My brother decided to spend 70 usd to send me a package. Half of its contents were socks. He loves me. They went to a good cause- sock puppets! Even if the glue soaked into the sock and the felt fell off 80% of the time, they still found a way to make it work, as they tend to do! Half the socks disappeared in the end, but the result was some red heads, button noses, and some that looked a bit afraid, but they all are from the same thread, so we don´t discriminate.

        Volunteers come and go, and they also made my experience one to remember. There were always people there to make you laugh when you need to, make you think when you need to, or hug you when you need to be hugged.

        Huanchaco itself is a calm surf town full of tourists by day, with a lively night scene with many opportunities to chat with the locals. Don´t be afraid if they take you by the hand for a moment of salsa (or perhaps longer if you have the moves)! I never lasted that long, but Peruvians are very understanding and will always give you a smile.

        I won´t forget the friends that I made nor the lessons that the kids in Cerrito taught me. The first I learned: Never take yourself too seriously! Safe travels, and hope that you can make it to Huanchaco!

Nick's Experience at the Dog Shelter

Miles of beautiful beach to myself with 37 new best friends in need of a little help.  This was the essence of myexperience with the dog shelter. 
            Thereare street dogs (chuchos, chuscos, or vagabundos, depending on what country you’re in!) everywhere in Latin America, as you will soon see if you aren’talready familiar.  The fact that ashelter like this even exists in Peru is fairly incredible.  They do their best to help out injured,sick, and abandoned street dogs. Where you come in to the average shelter dog’slife is playtime!  Withoutvolunteers, the dogs can’t get out and exercise because the shelter simply doesnot have enough people to take them out every day…in fact, what the shelter does have in terms of people are Danny and Antonio.  Suffice it to say that I felt needed.
            Outsideof the shelter work (running dogs, bathing dogs, cleaning dog rooms) I also helped out with a couple of emergency cases that came up.  One was a dog wasting away in thestreet from distemper.  The vet had to put it to sleep, and that was a very rough day.  The other was a sweetheart named Canela that ended up comingto live with me for a while after being hit by a car and having surgery on a broken hip.   This side of thework was not required, it just came up and I wanted to help out, so if you’drather keep strictly to beach running, that’s fine and totally needed!  But at the same time, if you can handle the emotional ride, there a re a lot of dogs suffering out there that could usea hand.

            I mostly worked with Danny during my month at the shelter.  He’s a great guy, and very passionateabout his work.  He’ll show you around Trujillo as well if you’re up for it! He has a lot of ideas for theshelter, so if you’ve got some drive you can work together to make a lot happenthere.  While I was there mysel fand two fellow volunteers raised a small bit of money and within weeks hadhelped get running water installed at the shelter for the first time.

Danny was also very patient andhelpful as I worked to learn Spanish, as Huanchaco was my first stop in SouthAmerica. The dogs were patient with me if not terribly helpful with correcting my pronunciation! 
            In all, the only bad thing I can say about volunteering with the shelter is a guaranteed broken heart when you leave. There’s still a hole in my heart for all my furry friends in Huanchaquito.