University of Adelaide arrive at Pumamarca School, Peru

COUNTRY: Peru
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Education
WRITTEN BY: Anna Henwood, Adelaide University

What a wonderful first week it has been! We arrived in South America the same day and time that we left Sydney on Monday morning – following a 12.5 hour flight that took us across the international time line. It was incredible to catch glimpses of the Andes mountains from the plane, as we arrived in Chile, on transit to Lima. We stayed a night in ‘El Faro Inn’, in Mileflores, Lima, before heading on to Cusco Tuesday morning. What an achievement – so far, no people or luggage lost!

Following a lot of confusion at check in, and flight delay, we arrived at Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport, in Cusco, where Gerry from Peru’s Challenge was at the airport to meet us. He kindly helped with luggage that had not arrived on the flight, but was to arrive at the office a few days later. We were then driven to Peru’s Challenge office in La Rapa, which is an area near two universities in Cusco, not far from the airport. Gerry went through some housekeeping and soon afterwards, someone from our host families arrived to take us to our new homes. It was an honour to meet with our families, and a welcome surprise to realise that all ten of the student teachers from Adelaide university are living on the same street, which is within a 15 minute walk of the office.


The following day, we went into the city on the ‘Batman’ – which is a local transport van, stopping regularly to let locals off and pick up new passengers. Following lunch, we walked around Cusco, taking in some of the city and learning about some local habits, such as drinking coca tea, or chewing leaves to avoid altitude sickness. Thankfully, although some of us have felt severe effects of the change in altitude, we are now well and adapting to the 3,500m above sea level. The views of the surrounding mountains are incredible, and the people warm and welcoming.

Thursday morning we were driven to Pumamarca School, to meet with the students and staff. There have been recent upgrades on the road leading to the school, although work is still continuing, and road blocks slow down the passing traffic. However, it is around a 20 minute ride to the school, with intimate views of the town of Pumamarca on the way. There is a lot of construction and building, as houses are erected from local materials of mud and straw. The bright colours of the school are unmistakeable from a distance, and are a cheerful welcome. As the front gate was opened to us, it was humbling and overwhelming to walk through a path the children had created for us, hearing the words ‘Bienvenutos, los amigos’.

Arriving at recess time meant that we had duties to hand out fruit and vitamins to the children, following with a tour of the school. We meet all the classes and their teachers in the classrooms, and were introduced to each class, often with a song presented by each class. We also enjoyed hearing of the work of previous volunteers, in particular the presence of 6 greenhouses (one garden space for each class) and the indoor wood oven for bread and pizza making. There is abundant space for wheat growing, which has been a source of bread ingredients in the past, although there are currently no crops.

The following day we had a flat tyre in the ‘Golden Gizmo’ (our van of transport to Pumamarca), so we left later than planned. We were able to offer hands in the garden and a grade 6 PE class, as well as talk with the teachers about the curriculum and classes we will be teaching next week.

After a busy week, some decided to take it easy over the weekend, with a visit to a market and a slow day of preparation for teaching. Others in the group have gone on a horse-riding trek, around the area of Cusco, to take in the sights at a more leisurely pace. Signing off, with quote of the week from the students at Pumamarca School, “Machu Picchu, nice to meet you!”