Lucy Visits Students in South America

I had a fantastic time visiting the students in Argentina & Peru, they really seem to be having a wonderful experience and really getting into the South American way of life. Buenos Aires is such a great city, so beautiful with plenty of things for them to do. All the projects are running well, unfortunately I only managed to see a few students in action, firstly Josh in his class at the private school in Recoleta. Josh has giving the students in the class an overview on recycling water in Australia, I was very impressed! Secondly, I went to out to the ‘villa’s’ (slums) with Julia and Julian. It took us hours to get there as the buses were on strike so the traffic was awful, but it was well worth the visit! The work they’re doing is really in a challenging environment and you can see how much the local kids like coming to the classes. The NGO that the students work with, LIFE, also provide food for many in the community and you could see how much this was appreciated. 

I visited two of the community centres where the students are working and they were certainly being kept busy, teaching maths, English and games, in a very informal setting.

Later on in my visit I travelled to see Ali’s placement in La Boca, again a very poor part of Buenos Aires, although quite central. The centre wasn’t open to children when I went to visit so Ali wasn’t there either, but it was great to see the things they do, teaching and games with the kids, a workshop for the local women and a computer room to assist with teaching skills.

I spoke with all the students and they all seemed to be enjoying their placements.
I can see why many of them who are working in the ‘volunteer’ work are continuing with Spanish. It is so important to be able to understand the kids and to be understood!

Sam, Henry, Josh, Chirag and James are all excelling and enjoying their placements in the private schools. Josh, Henry and Sam’s school is right next door to the student residence so it’s very handy. The lessons are mainly taught in English so it’s great for the students at the school to be able to practice speaking English. They get the benefit of being able to hang out with some of the students as they are similar ages, apart from Sam who is teaching at the primary school.

The homestay’s are all going well. I met Josh and Chirag’s host mother (a photo of her attached with Agu - one of the staff in Argentina) and saw the house where they are living. It’s very comfortable and close to the student residence. Julian was still happy with his family and those in the student residence were loving it. There’s a good mix of nationalities which makes it a lot of fun in the house, with there always being something going on. All those students in homestays seem to hang out here a lot too.

We had a good evening at the student residence, once a month our partner organisation Road to Argentina, host a pizza night for all the volunteers. Luckily I was there for this night so it was a good chance to see the students one last time before I headed off to Peru.

After a long journey, and a few hiccups like locking my passport in my hotel safe!, I made it to Peru. I had such a wonderful time seeing the group in Peru and how they have settled in. They were all very well and in great spirits, despite the fact that many were in and out the clinic whilst I was there. The work they’ve done is amazing, they have put a huge amount of effort into the perimeter fence of the school and in-country agent, Jane tells me this week that it’s nearly finished. They should be really proud of themselves. Not only the work, but the funding for the project. It’s a government requirement that every primary school is fenced and the community had asked for it as a priority over any other project. It not only protects the school from theft (only last week many of the fish were stolen from the trout farm), but also keeps the young students safe from running onto the main road that goes by the school.

They were doing a great job at teaching as well. Jane has been full of praises for this group, they have really spent time planning their lessons and thought about what needs to be done. I went on the school excursion to the Sacred Valley which was great fun. The kids were just so excited about their first school trip and it was great to see them enjoying hanging out with our students. 

I went to visit a few of the families (Martina / Sarah and Alex, Lachy and Clancy, Rachel and Katherine) - they were being well looked after and all the families seemed lovely. I had lunch with Lachy and Clancy’s family which was delicious!

We managed to have a night out at a great pizza place and then ended up having a salsa class in one of the clubs in central Cusco, very amusing!

They were all looking forward to further travels or returning home. All in all, a great trip to Argentina and Peru - it's so rewarding seeing the students and projects in real life!