. Bruce Peru: "Ciudad
de Dios" Children's Centre
Staffing: Teacher
(1 full time), Social Worker (1 part time), Teaching Assistant
(up to 2 volunteers). Doctors and Dentists - as needed and available)
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Introduction..Ciudad de Dios is Trujuillo's newest ´Invasion´ in he desert to the east..
'Ciudad de Dios' CHILDREN'S CENTRE is in the Ciudad de Dios community of the 'Cono Sur' slums on the south side of Trujillo, Peru. Our aim is to give aid and support to the children of the families (mostly ababndoned mothers) who squatted this sandy mountain in May 2007. The squatters were ejectedat least once before they finally overcame resistance from the Trujillol authorities and are now foriming a makeshift community on the sandy lot which now houses roughly ten thousand in tiny woven reed & plastic 'homes', some already being replaced by adobe.. In the ensuing years their improvised houses will be improved first to adobe and then brick houses. But there is no electricity, water or school. Some electricity is rented privately from nearby houses, but water has to be trucked in several times a week. Bruce Peru have agreed to provide our standard project of educating the children up to the point they can pass the entrance examination to enter the grade appropriate to their age, in the National School system.
The Ciudad de Dios Children's first Centre is housed in a very basic
shanty house, not much better than those where some of our families live,
such as>
Ciudad de Dios was formed by a group of Andean peasants recently arrived
from the mountains. When they finally succeeded in posessing the land
they bonded into a community; everyone looks out for everyone else. It
is isolated from the rest of Trujillo, the only road climbing up the mountain
to Ciudad de Dios has a gate and a guard. It may be a shanty town to the
ourside world, but to its residents it has as much community spirit as
any community anywhere.
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Many children living in
Juan Pablo Segundo do not attend school due one or more of three
reasons: extreme poverty (even attending free school in Peru costs
about $200 a year), abandonment or parental abuse (children of poor
parents often are made to work instead of attending school) Our
primary goal is to get as many children into school as possible,
and this involves encouraging learning, talking to parents and in
some cases purchassing uniforms and school books. We have the more
general aim of providing children aged between 6 and 12 with fun
activities to do in the morning, to keep them occupied, together
and away from the streets, and to give extra help to those struggling
in school and with learning difficulties |
What to expect as a Volunteer:Your Job at 'Ciudad de Dios CHILDREN'S CENTRE' will involve:
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Accomodation for international Vols:We ask a fee from our volunteers to keep our work going. The money goes to pay for the bills, meals, and the cost of the social worker, children´s teacher social workers, as well as maintaining the volunteer centre- also to promote the opening of other Children's Centres in Peru.( Includes 15 meals per week & full accommodation) . |
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Besides these activities, we welcome new ideas to make our project most effective for the children. Volunteering at Bruce Peru Trujillo can be a tiring but immensely rewarding experience. You should be able to cope with big groups of street children demanding a lot of attention and enthusiasm. You will have to be a team worker, working together with PeruVillan and international volunteers. In the centre you will be a representative of the project and are expected to be responsible and behave as an example for the children. What you do in your free time outside the centre is up to you.
Volunteering at 'Ciudad de Dios' is a fantastic way of getting to know Peru, of improving your Spanish, and above all, of interacting with the community and with the children of the city in a positive and helpful way.
The Region:
More than 400 years ago, the Spanish conqueror
("conquistador") Trujillo the City of eternal Springtime ("Ciudad de los
Reyes"). Nowadays, that same city, which rose from the lands of the native
chief Taulischusco, is a metropolis of over 7 hundred thousand people who proudly
preserve the colonial convents and mansions which are symbols of their ancient
and noble traditions. Trujillo, capital of Peru, founded on January 18,
1535, is a modern city which, while constantly expanding, has also managed
to maintain the elegance of its Historic Center. Declared a UNESCO World
Heritage Center, due to the large number of artistic monuments found there,
Historic Trujillo is an enchanting haven of a period long gone.
The Programme:
The Children's Centre is located
in one of the only solid buildings at the centre of a poor people's township.
The neighbours mostly have no water or erratic electricity, (classes are
in the mornings when there is always light), Our international volunteers
leave Central Trujillo at 8>30:AM and are in class teaching the children
by 9:AM. Children attend the centre between 9 AM and 12:00 PM, (ending with
a nutritious snack). During the morning volunteers and local teachers organise
a range of classes, all designed to prepare the children for a future in
the National Curriculum. Groups are divided up according to age or ability.
None of these children currently goes to school, so an important aspect
of our program is teaching them group discipline and study habits. We also
plan trips outside the centre, to play football and other games as well
as educational & cultural activities..
