During the Peru session volunteers will be greeted by Andean Outreach Program staff in Lima Peru. Volunteers will have the opportunity to see different areas of the city before heading up the mountain to Hunacayo. AOP staff will provide an orientation to Huancayo and the Mantero Valley as well as facilitate most volunteer activity. Student volunteers will stay together in a volunteer house, receive three meals a day, shared bedrooms, and hot shower bathrooms. Participants will engage in the activities listed below:
• Visit
several rural communities to observe Peruvian life
• Observe living conditions and social problems
• Visit with local families and workers for cultural exchange
• Discover what other organizations are doing to fight poverty
• Document important aspects of Andean communities and rural life.
• Work to improve the lives of children and families
• Meet with local university students
• Participate in Spanish language workshops
.
During the Uganda session, students will first arrive to Kampala, the capital city of Uganda where they will receive an introduction from the GYPA staff. This program will feature youth participants and leaders from the Kampala area who are active in GYPA.
Following this two-day introduction in Kampala, the group will head to Gulu, Northern Uganda. In Gulu, students will connect with students from the Gulu University Center for Peace. This part of the program will lend insight into the history and current conditions of post-conflict reconstruction, and particularly the youth role in this process. The specific focus will be to better understand how youth and grassroots NGOs are helping to rekindle and reconnect a culture broken by conflict.
Additionally,
students will participate in a “mentoring” program where they
will be linked up with a NGO working on issues that the student is interested
to learn more. They will spend 3 days volunteering for the organizing and
shadowing the program officers.
