Notre Dame Mission Volunteer Program - Peru

  Peru

• Lima: 
Lima
• All Other Areas in Peru: 
Rural Areas

Duration of Program: 7-12 months
Typical Duration of Program: 7-12 months
Dates: 01/05/2010 - 12/05/2010

Description: Tambogrande

Tambogrande is a rural town of about 30,000 people located in the district of Piura, Peru, north of Lima. Volunteers in Tambogrande will serve at the Fe y Alegria School #48, a network of 31 different instructional centers spread throughout the countryside in order to give children in the most remote areas access to education. Volunteers will live in Tambogrande with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur and commute two or three days per week to Fe y Alegria in the countryside. At the school, they may serve by tutoring individual children, teaching English classes, serving as teachers' aides, or organizing extracurricular clubs and activities.

On the remaining two or three days per week, the volunteers will serve at Tambogrande's physical therapy center "Sonrisas Felices," which provides therapy to disabled children of poor families from the town and its rural surroundings. Volunteers may serve as receptionists, assist the therapists, and/or accompany center staff on visits to the children's homes in the countryside. Volunteers interested in pastoral ministry may also serve in the Sisters' adult faith formation program.

Lima
Volunteers will serve in partnership with the Fe y Alegria school in Las Delicias de Villa, Lima. Service within the school is flexible and can be tailored to the volunteer's talents and interests. Opportunities include tutoring special-needs children in basic reading, writing, and math; tutoring secondary-school students in English; serving as teacher's aides; creating extracurricular clubs and activities; and working with adults in the Fe y Alegria Radio School, a distance-learning program that allows adults, primarily women, to complete their primary or secondary education.

Volunteers interested in pastoral ministry can also serve in the parish "Jesus Artesano" by leading catechesis or confirmation groups, visiting the elderly and ill with the parish "health" committee, participating in the choir, offering English classes for adults, or serving in other ways inspired by the volunteer's skills and passions.

For many of these service opportunities and for everyday interactions with the community in Lima, advanced Spanish is absolutely necessary. Volunteers with limited Spanish should consider whether their language skills and personal style of interaction with others will allow them to fully engage in the type of service that interests them.

*Note: We are under the same parent program as Notre Dame - AmeriCorps. However, our international program is not affiliated with AmeriCorps.

Highlights: At Notre Dame Mission Volunteers, we believe that education is the fundamental tool in the struggle of the poor for human dignity, self-esteem, and self-determination. We seek to build community among our members, as well as the people with whom we work by reaching out across culture and class. We are committed to helping people help themselves. Our goal is to promote and encourage education, community empowerment, leadership development and multicultural harmony in hopes of producing greater unity, less violence, and better-informed citizens in our communities. We are looking for volunteers who are dedicated to the same goals to serve in Kenya, Nigeria, and Peru.

Qualifications:
* The volunteer must have Spanish language skills.
* Prior experience living abroad and volunteering preferred.

Cost in US$: USD 3000

Experience Required: yes

Applicants with prior service experience and Spanish language skills are preferred.

Age Range: 22-45

This Program is open to American Participants.

Application Process Involves:

• Essay
• Letters of Reference
• Phone Interview
• Physical Exam/Health Records
• Resume
• Written Application

Post-Program Services Include:

• Exit Debriefing Abroad

Notre Dame Mission Volunteer Program's Mission Statement: Notre Dame-AmeriCorps, believes that education is the fundamental tool in the struggle of the poor for human dignity, self-esteem, and self-determination. We seek to build community among our members, as well as the people with whom we work by reaching out across culture and class. We are committed to helping people help themselves. Our goal is to promote and encourage education, community empowerment, leadership development and multicultural harmony in hopes of producing greater unity, less violence, and better-informed citizens in our communities.

Year Founded: 1992

Notre Dame Mission Volunteer Program is a Catholic based organization. We do not require our participants to be of the same faith. Our volunteers will not be involved in religious proselytizing.