Education 

This mainstream education project is located in the City of Cusco and involves working in a primary school for children 6-12 years old. This school of 150 students in the district of Santiago. The volunteers duties will be to provide support to the classroom teachers and provide reinforcement to students in the area of mathematics and communication. Volunteers can also be helpful by creating recreational activities that benefit the children while they have fun- for example through sports, music, crafts, yoga or other skills that the individual volunteer may bring. This school project requires an intermediate level of Spanish.

Disadvantaged Children of Cusco

This project focuses on a local daycare center where about 25 young children come daily. The parents are either working or attending school. The center has 3 classrooms ( infant to 2 yr. old, 3 to 4 yr. old, and age 5 and up) where the children are cared for. The center is also responsible for providing and preparing breakfast and lunch. 
The volunteer activities could include:
* caring for the children
* meeting the children's nutritional and hygiene needs
* creating recreational and learning opportunities for the children ( arts, reading, active and imaginative play)
* an intermediate level of Spanish is helpful for this opportunity

Special Education

This special education project is located in the city of Cusco at the Centro of Special Education. This school works with students that have problems with sight, hearing or Down's Syndrome. Many of the children come from indigenous communities, far from the city and from economically vulnerable families.
The important work that the volunteers will be doing at this school includes:
* providing support to the classroom teacher
* provide support for the children's nutritional and hygiene needs
* reinforcing math and communication skills
* providing recreational activities that engage the students in a meaningful way- through sports, arts, music or other skills that the volunteer cares to share
*  This project would be best suited to volunteers  with intermediate Spanish skills. 

Community Development Projects

Indigenous Partnership:  This project is located in Chinchero, about 40 minutes outside of Cusco. It is an indigenous women's cooperative founded 5 years ago with the creation of a communal workshop and retail outlet.
The volunteer duties could include: disseminating information relevant to the local community, supporting the preparation of projects, preventing and identifying problems, implementing training workshops
* possessing an intermediate level of Spanish is required

Conservation and Ecological Reserve Project

The Manu Ecological Reserve (Amazon rainforest) is the largest national park in Peru and covers over 18,000 kms. It has one of the highest levels of bio diversity in the world and is home to 15,000 species of plants, 250 varieties of trees, and over 1,000 species of birds.

The Manu Ecological Reserve is an environmental, ecological and non profit organization created in Peru with the aim of working for the defense and conservation of the Amazonian forest and all the beings that inhabit it. This reserve is composed of professionals, employees,volunteers and nature lovers. All share a deep commitment to ecology.
The volunteer activities include:
* participate in activities related to the reforestation of the area
* active participation in impact studies
* create inventories of flora and fauna
* seeding, transporting and planting seedlings
* making a photographic record of flora and fauna- for a photographic record of the area
* development of your own areas of interest in field work
* educational support in the Reserve library (available April-November)
* intermediate Spanish is necessary for this volunteer placement

Health Care Projects

The Health Center is located in the city of Cusco, in the district of Santiago serving a population of 2,700. The center has been part of the community for over 30 years and employs 55 people. The main responsibility of the health center is providing medical assistance to all the community, regardless of socioeconomic conditions. It provides the following services: General medicine, OB/GYN, pharmacy, Delivery Room, Labs, Pediatrics, and Vaccinations.
In the medical center, volunteer duties include:
Observing and shadowing physicians
* Supporting staff in basic tasks such as- weighing, measuring, temperature taking, and triage work
* Educate the clients on issues of hygiene and nutrition
* Note- the volunteer should not expect to directly treat patients
* To be truly effective for this volunteer position, intermediate Spanish is required