2014_07_29_voluntariado-peru

A group of 25 volunteers from the Olabidea and Goimendi senior high schools have traveled to Peru this summer to collaborate with the work carried out in the Cañete Valley by Condoray, a professional women's center training , as part of the project Warmi program they develop throughout the year.

For twenty days the volunteers gave classes at the institute to the students of Secretarial and Accounting. These sessions had been prepared throughout the course, with the partnership of a group teachers from the University.

With this volunteer activities, the aim is to collaborate with the training of women who will work from there for the development and the improvement of their own country. It is a way of putting at the service of the neediest countries what the university women receive throughout the year at the University itself.

In addition to their classes at the high school, the volunteers also worked in the Laura Caller and Roma villages. The tasks they performed there were varied, ranging from maintenance of the premises to the elaboration of a contest for the care of the environment. Every afternoon, more than forty children came to the premises and were given lessons on catechesis and values. Afterwards, a snack was prepared for them, which for many of them was the only meal they had during the day.

We also worked with the ladies of the village, who were given sessions on hygiene, nutritional habits and training on family values. proposal A gastronomicexchange was organized one day; the village ladies prepared a typical dish of the country: "causa rellena", and the volunteers prepared the classic potato omelet.

In addition, on one of the last days, the ladies of the village organized a farewell meal for all the volunteers, including a show in which the ladies danced in traditional costumes. For the occasion they prepared other Peruvian specialties: "sopa seca" and "picarones".

Before the end of their stay in Cañete, the volunteers have already started to work on the work course for next year and in September they will start preparing the syllabus they will teach next summer in Condoray.

Rich in heart and soul

"The first day we woke up in Cerro Alegre foreshadowed the routine that would accompany us until the end: the Peruvian anthem sung by the girls of high school would wake us up every morning. The truth is that music has been quite present during the whole volunteer activities since in Julio's bus, which took us to Condoray or Casablanca, La Oreja de Van Gogh never stopped playing, as a small gift that he gave us every day. Very soon we felt at home", remembers Loreto Sáez, volunteer at project Warmi.

"The rural promoters cooked typical dishes for us on several occasions: sopa seca, yucca and causa. We exported a little piece of home with a delicious potato omelet, although what was really successful were the sevillanas that we danced at every farewell party they organized for us. 

We assimilated what we experienced as the days went by and everyone we met taught us something we needed to learn. But the one who really gave us a lesson in strength, self-improvement and courage was Mrs. Angelica, who in a couple of hours made it very clear to us that to be happy you have to be rich... but rich in heart and soul."