"Magic Books" Project in Cusco

What is this project about? 

The cultural project "Magic Books", through its volunteer project, has as its main objective to encourage and promote culture and reading books to improve the oral and written expression of the children whose parents are irregular traders selling their products in the streets to make a living. 

Most of them have a very low economic and educational background. The challenge of the "Magic Books" project, together with our volunteers, consists of instilling a taste for reading autonomously and providing reading materials and relevant tools that the children find interesting. The project seeks to create a space and reading time and assigns the children to various volunteers for that. 

Working with diverse activities, with varied materials appropriate to the interests and level of the child, encouraging dialogue and reflection around what is read, a space for imagination and creativity while reinforcing reading skills. This project works for inclusion, equal opportunities and strengthening the capacities of minors in Cusco.

What will you be doing as a volunteer?

The work of the volunteer is extremely important, as she or he will be the children's guide and tool to achieve the success of this project. Therefore, the volunteer has to have a great motivation to help. You will be:

• Choosing reading materials and coming up with fun and dynamic activities to motivate the children to read, to understand the characters, and create connections with books.
• One-to-one time with each child, understanding their individual reading and writing difficulties and supporting them to improve their skills, and therefore, their motivation.
• Supporting English speaking by preparing lessons that involve fun and dynamic activities which motivate their interest in a foreign language.

This project is committed to the comprehensive development of the children. We also promote English language learning, as an added support to their school lessons and increase their future opportunities.

This is a fairly new project but one we want to bet on, starting by promoting it in the city of Cusco and later working in other communities.

Assistant Teaching in a local public school

You will be volunteering at the educational center ALEJANDRO SANCHEZ ARTEAGA, a local public school in Cusco that has approximately 632 students. You will be working with primary students, and supporting teachers in English lessons through dynamic and fun activities that motivate learning and interest in English.

This school belongs to the urban population, to the local people. Therefore, the majority of the children come from low-income backgrounds, where their parents normally work in informal activities such as selling products on the street or food stands and therefore have very little support from the government and tend to have little or no educational background. The only chance children have of breaking this poverty cycle and aspire to a higher quality of life is through education, especially through learning English. Cusco is a town that lives from tourism, and therefore, a person with English language will have a bigger chance of a job in the future.

English teachers in this school are motivated and willing, but their English is limited.

Therefore volunteers are needed to support teachers in their own learning and English skills, in developing lesson plans, coming up with new fresh ideas and supporting children in their learning.

As a volunteer, you can support both projects if you want, "Magic Books" and be an Assistant Teacher at the local public school. You will talk with your coordinator on site to arrange a timetable.

Magic Books - Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 15.00 to 17.00

Assistant Teaching - Mondays to Fridays 8.00 to 13.00 or 13.30 to 17.30

Your Role as a Volunteer

Your help at both projects is much needed and appreciated. You will however need a great deal of patience, motivation, flexibility and open mindedness, as the organization and discipline is probably nothing like what you are used to. There will be challenges but there will also be rewards if you persevere, and it is truly a wonderful opportunity to really get to know more about Peruvian people, culture and customs.

General Goals and Aspirations

• Improving group work with the teacher or coordinator.
• Improving children's motivation for learning and reading.
• Improving pupils’ pronunciation.
• Improving pupils’ writing skills.
• Encouraging the teacher to speak more English and use more activity-oriented teaching methods.
• Implementing computer-based training in the English lessons.
• Offering private lessons for the pupils who want them.

Your general tasks will include:

• Preparing materials for the classes and reading workshops. 
• Delivering English classes and workshops.
• Giving one-on-one educational explanations.
• Giving English pronunciation training.
• Helping with homework. 
• Evaluating the students.

Another part of your volunteer role is working with the teacher in the School project and helping her improve and become more confident with her English. Remember to stay polite, respectful and encouraging - there are just as many things she can learn from you as you can learn from her. It will be a mutually beneficial exchange for both of you.

Learn Spanish before participating in our projects

Our projects include a one-week intensive Spanish Course. This way it will be easier for you to interact and communicate with the local people and participants in the project and will ensure you have a greater impact. Your Spanish Lessons will also focus on the vocabulary you need specifically for your project.

A stay at our projects includes:

• Accommodation
• Meals - project depending
• Airport pickup and transport to the project
• Support 24 hours.
• FREE 20 hours Spanish intensive course - project depending
  
  Start Dates: 
  1st and 3rd Sunday each month. 
  
  Individual Start Dates:
  + € 150,00 – Start your placement any Sunday of the month.
  + € 250,00 – Choose your own start dates and change them up to 3 times before your trip.
  
  Pricing: 
  € 1099,00 – 1st month
  € 1049,00 – 2nd month
  €   999,00 – 3rd month, and after.
  
  There are special prices if you want to come and volunteer with a partner or friend. Please contact the organisation.