Otherwise Club go with the crowd (funding)

After studying climate change in the Arequipa region, Ayla and Miya (who are both home educated Londoners who belong to The Otherwise Club) came across Pachawawas/TNT and have since decided to set up a CrowdFunder site, with the help of their adult, Leslie, to raise money to help build the new orphanage.

Donating through CrowdFunder is an easy and simple. Every time money is donated, depending on the amount, Miya and Ayla will send a token of their appreciation and a big thank you to the donor.

Miya and Ayla told us that they hope to volunteer with TNT themselves in the future as they think it would be “an exciting and unique opportunity”, and of course we agree! Click here to find out more about volunteering in Peru.

Click here to visit their Crowd Funding site and find out what treats you could receive!

Kathryn measures up for marathon

After volunteering in the Casa Hogar Luz Alba Orphanage in 2009, Kathryn has decided to help us raising funds to build the new orphanage by running her first ever half marathon! Considering she is only 5 foot 3 inches (on a good day!) that’s a lot of steps! So dig deep and click the button below to sponsor Kathryn!

Knowledge is Power

The imposing looking guy above is Inca Roca (no, not Inca Rocker, although that would be cool) and he was responsible for the first “Yachayhuasi”, or “House of Knowledge”, set up to teach young Incan nobles the business of governing. He knew that knowledge is power. Traveller Not Tourist believes the same but of course, they believe that it should be available to the people who need it most – those living in poverty and difficult circumstances, not just the rich elite. With government run schools in Peru offering a decidedly substandard level of education (a study in 2007 found that 62% of surveyed teachers were below primary school level reading comprehension, and 92% were below primary school level in Mathematics) and private education out of the reach of most Peruvians, opportunities for a decent education are not easy to come by.

Traveller Not Tourist have recently handed over the reins of the Flora Tristan English School to a new, completely separate organisation composed of some previous staff and volunteers. Since they will no longer be involved in the running or staffing of Flora Tristan, Traveller Not Tourist have grasped the opportunity to take the lessons they have learned from running it to start up a new project. While still keeping English Teaching as the core activity of the project, there will be some improvements to the way the it is structured. In order to maximise the number of people they can help, as well as the quality of help, the new project differs from the old in two important factors.

1) The new project will operate in the centre of the city. This means that the students are more likely to go on to work specifically with, or at least encounter, tourists (or already have a job in the area) and therefore use the English they learn. It also makes the project accessible to more people as students can easily travel to the centre.

2) The courses will be taught to older students. Providing relevant education to individuals who are already working, or who will soon be working, means that they will already have a sense of the worth of the courses and therefore be more committed and more studious.

As well as teaching English, volunteers (both international and local) will also run Life Skills and Vocational courses.

Of course, additional benefits of the program, such as building confidence, providing positive role models and encouraging positive links between the students themselves, will also be important aspects of this project.

To learn more about the new project, just click here, by the way, it’s called “Yachayhuasi Learning Centre”, we are sure Inca  Roca would be proud!

Tough Mudder

In a fleeting fit of youthful bravado (he certainly isn’t feeling it now!), Ian has signed up to a 12 mile obstacle course designed by British Special Forces. Included is a run through fire, waist deep mud and live electric wires, some that come with 10,000 volts! Not too sure Ian has really thought this through. Mmmmm……. Oh well, at least in the process he will be raising money to help build the new orphanage. Ian volunteered at the orphanage in 2009 and has never forgotten his experience. If you would like to support Ian in his crazy endeavour and contribute to the building of the orphanage, please click the button below. You can check out what the madness will involve at www.toughmudder.co.uk