SERVICE LEARNING IN PERU THE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME

The school, which owns the property it is situated on, has been built entirely through donations and volunteer labour. The community surrounding the school is made up entirely of squatters who have arrived from other parts of Peru looking for work. No homes have running water, and just a few may be fortunate enough to have some form of electricity. Water is brought into the area during the summer months in large water trucks, and each home has a large container to store water. However, because the community is on the side of a mountain, the roads are too wet and dangerous for the water trucks in the winter months; the families carry water to their homes during the winter months. In addition, the cost of the water to these families is expensive, making day-to-day living difficult.

Someone we met in passing in Lima during our stay wondered why we would even be interested in helping them. Our girls did not need an answer to that question, as they knew within minutes of arriving at the school. The school does not receive any funding from the government because the squatters are not recognized as people. Despite everything, what we saw going on in the classrooms was inspiring. The students were dedicated to their studies, and the principal was dedicated to ensuring that the children received the best education possible. The Grade 4 students have placed in the top 10 in all of Peru for the last two years in the standardized test administered across the country. There was also an older group of students who helped run the kiosk, which sold fruit, baking, candy, etc. to the students and their families. Students were sometimes given tokens for hard work, which could be used to purchase items at the kiosk. The older students who helped run the kiosk also baked each week to supply the kiosk, and at the end of the year these students were given the money that they helped raise. It is an incredible program of entrepreneurship!