Bicycles for Peru's children from the University campus
International Relations students participate in a project to promote the schooling of children in the region of Calca.
FotoIR/Fromleft to right, Lais Suasuna, Fernanda Meara and Natalia Barrionuevo, International Relations students participating in the project.
25 | 03 | 2025
A group of eight students of the third year of International Relations has organized a charity market to raise funds and buy bicycles for children in Peru. This is a project of Learning and Service that is developed within the subject Cooperation to development, taught by Professor Iñaki Velaz.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, the hall of the Amigos Building will be filled with different pieces of handicrafts, jewelry and sweets that will be sold with the goal of getting the bicycles for the children of Peru to go to high school
It takes a child in the highland region of Calca, Cusco, Peru, two hours to walk to school. This is an isolated region with difficult access and few services. With the donation of bicycles, the project, which is carried out in partnership with the ngo Baika, aims to reduce the rate of school absenteeism and promote the schooling of these children.
"As part of the subject , you have to develop a partnership project with an ngo anywhere in the world. It can be by doing volunteer activities, working in the field or, as in our case, organizing a fundraising activity," explains Natalia Barrionuevo Alvear, 20, a native of Quito, Ecuador, and one of the eight students participating in the project, which will benefit a total of 38 schoolchildren.
"Another of the actions we have also organized is a gofundme through which you can sponsor one of these children through this link," adds another of the students, Fernanda Meara, 22 years old and a native of San Pedro Sula, in Honduras. The rest of the students participating in this project are: Lais Suasuna Villareal, from Recife in Brazil, and Spaniards Alberto Ferreres Fernandez, Manuel Fernandez Fernandez, Irene Smith Vicente, Mario de Diego and Rafael Soehring.
"In addition to the partnership with the NGO, the project also required us to set up the flea market, contact several brands to donate their products, organize the space at the university and ensure that it was as well publicized as possible," adds Natalia Barrionuevo.
