Volunteer Life
Accommodation
Volunteers live in a comfortable house, 10 minutes walk from the city center and 20 minutes walk from the school, with Tinkuy Peru Director, Tino, and his family. Volunteers receive three meals a day Monday through Saturday, (on Saturdays, lunch is not provided as volunteers are usually on excursions) which they eat together. Meals are home cooked traditional Peruvian dishes, including local specialties. Vegetarian and other dietary needs can be accommodated. All of the food served at the house is carefully prepared and safe to eat.
The living situation is a combination home stay and volunteer residence. The volunteers live in a shared double room with shared hot water bathrooms. The interaction with the family provides the opportunity to practise Spanish and learn about Andean Peruvian culture. There is also plenty of time to get to know other Tinkuy Peru volunteers from all over the world. Laundry can be washed by hand at the house, hand washed by a neighbor for S/5 (US$1.80) or taken to the laundry mat where they machine wash, dry and fold your clothes for S/13 (US$4).
Huancayo is a unique place that has been disrupted very little by tourism or globalization. You will not find many international chains and many of the restaurants serve traditional Peruvian dishes. In Huancayo, it is easy to get around in by taxi (US$1.40per ride) or by a small bus called a combi (US$0.34 per ride).
A Typical Volunteer Day:
Here a brief outline of how a volunteer day usually looks like:
8.30 - 9.00: breakfast at the house
9.30 -12.00: morning classes at the mountain school
13.30 - 14.00: lunch at the house
15.15-17.30: afternoon classes at the mountain school
20.00 - 20.30: dinner at the house
The Mountain School
This is the school where you will be based. The children at the Mountain School are divided into three groups: between 2 and 5 years (principiantes), between 6 and 10 years (primarios) and between 11 and 16 years old (secundarios). The activities that are done with the children vary between:
- teaching English
- teaching geography, history, math or coloring (for the smallest)
- singing songs (feel free to suggest new songs, they love it),
- playing sports
- excursions with the children
- environmental awareness
- health and hygiene awareness
You are free to suggest other subjects you want to teach but with the primary aim of teaching English
Weekend Excursions
We appreciate the hard work of our volunteers during the week, and come the weekend we let out volunteers take full advantage of their time in Huancayo by guiding them around the local sites. Not only is it fun, but it is an opportunity to learn about our regional history, customs and culture. Check out the link at the top of the page to see what kind of things you can get up to during your weekends in Huancayo.
