• Volunteer in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Peru.
  • Make a difference in a variety of dynamic projects.
  • Flexible program options allow you to volunteer from one week up to six months, depending on the country.
  • Build your resume while gaining global experience in your field of study.
  • Take advantage of our fundraising guide to help you pay for the cost of your Volunteer Experience!
Volunteer Experience Latin America

Volunteer in Peru

Volunteers can become involved in childcare, teaching, construction, healthcare, cultural immersion, and conservation/wildlife projects. Volunteers will primarily be based in the city of Cusco, the historical capital of the Inca Empire. In contrast to its stunning geography, which attracts growing numbers of international visitors to Peru, poverty and unemployment remain high throughout rural regions and more than half of the population lives below the poverty line.

Program Options

Childcare

At childcare placements volunteers assist the children with their homework, organize educational activities and provide the children with love and attention. Volunteers may assist at orphanages, homes for abused children, daycare for babies, community centers, and working with street children at shelters. There is also the possibility to work at a boarding school for deaf children and at a school for children and young adults with Down syndrome.

Teaching English

At teaching English placements volunteers assist the full time teacher with speaking, listening, writing, reading, grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary lessons. Volunteers may also be asked to help with one-on-one tutoring.

Construction

Volunteers assist with the renovation and/or construction typically at childcare projects. Currently our partner organization is helping to build a new orphanage in Oropesa, near Cusco. Tasks on the construction program may include: renovation, painting, decorating and carpentry. Volunteers will assist with cement mixing, sand sifting, cutting wood and transporting building materials. The building projects are to help the community improve their schools and community centers.

Healthcare

There are two options for this program: the first is to work at a clinic for mentally and physically disabled children. This project does not require any qualification or experience. It is in a clinical setting but volunteers essentially help to look after the children, organizing activities and helping at meal times. There are options at this project to assist in physiotherapy and to shadow a doctor as well. The second option is to work at a clinic for low-income families. This project is for pre-med students (with relevant first aid or experience working in a clinic or hospital), med students or qualified nurses or doctors. Volunteers for these projects require at least basic Spanish as the staff they will work with have limited English.

Conservation/Wildlife

There are two options for this program. The first is to volunteer at a small zoo in Cusco assisting with cleaning and feeding. Injured animals are rehabilitated and released back into the wild. Or you can volunteer at Manu National Park, in the jungle region of Peru, in the Sacred Valley. Here volunteers may assist in orchid planting, bamboo removal, teaching at the local school, and creating an inventory of species. For this project volunteers will complete one week of Spanish lessons in Cusco before heading to the project.

Andean Cultural Immersion

At the Andean project, volunteers live with a host family in the mountains in the Sacred Valley. They assist a family with agriculture and textiles practices. They will also provide some workshops to members of the local community, for example teaching English or reading and writing. For this project volunteers will complete one week of Spanish lessons in Cusco before heading to the project.

Program Location

Volunteers will primarily be based in Cusco, but may also participate in projects in Arequipa. Cusco is a city in south-eastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range. Cusco is at an altitude of around 3,500m (11,500 ft). The Sacred Valley, known as the Urubamba Valley, is in the Andes close to Cusco. The accommodation for these programs will be more basic than for the other programs.

Program Dates

Volunteers start on either the first or third Monday of every month, and must arrive in Cusco on the Sunday before this in order to attend the orientation session on Monday. All international travelers must fly into Lima before catching a connecting flight to Cusco.

Spanish Lessons

All volunteers will participate in one week of Spanish lessons with professional teachers provided by our partner organization. In this way volunteers will typically study Spanish in the mornings and volunteer at their placement in the afternoons. After their first week volunteers will participate in a language exchange program, where they will be paired with a Peruvian student studying English for one hour's conversation practice per day. The exchange program will continue throughout the volunteer's stay. The language exchange program is not available for the Jungle and Andean projects.