Volunteer in Peru

Be the Change. Be a Global Volunteer in Peru.

Help children and families overcome severe poverty

Inspire and guide youth to productive futures as a volunteer in Peru. Working in partnership with inspired community leaders since 2001, we enable you to help eradicate hunger, improve healthcare and enhance cognition on our Reaching Children’s Potential Program. Work with inspired teachers and managers at a safe harbor for babies and youth, and support families with essential services in the barrios of Ventanilla, a dusty mountainside community outside Lima. See Covid-19 requirements.

Get Started in Peru

Volunteer in Lima’s Ventanilla District along the Pacific coast.

Local time in Peru:

Call: 651-407-6100

Request Program Information

Quick Online Registration

FAQs:

Genuine development projects to help children thrive. Exceptional service-learning for families, groups and individuals.

Community Projects

Conversational English:

Work one-on-one with children from kindergarten through high school on English language skills, primarily through reading, writing and recitation, to encourage their interest and proficiency in basic English. At the university level, you help students anchor their independence through conversational English practice and lesson reviews.

Health Care:

Health care professionals are needed at the on-campus clinic which serves all of the 1,300 children of the community, and people from the surrounding community. Specialists such as radiologists, ophthalmologist, pediatricians, dental hygienists, lab techs and the like can provide hands-on care, but all practitioners and medical students can be engaged.

Parent and Family Workshops:

Conduct interactive workshops for pregnant women, mothers, fathers and grandparents on health, nutrition, early childhood development, education, psychology, or related topics in your field. Choose from 37 prepared outlines and presentations.

Classroom Teaching and Tutoring:

If you have good Spanish skills, you can teach math, science, numeracy, geography, biology, world history and help students of all ages with their homework and testing. Help children read, write and speak in English on literacy projects. Enjoy serving as an inspiration in learning environments lacking material resources.

Early Childhood Education:

Stimulate and guide preschool children with arts and crafts, music, storybooks, educational toys; demonstrate hand washing with soap and water, and teach other hygiene skills.

Repair and Maintenance:

Help protect and maintain center facilities by painting, repairing, and maintaining buildings, and lend a hand on plumbing, carpentry, welding, masonry and electrical projects.

Dates & Fees

Arrival and Departure

Leave the details to us!

Your service program officially begins with the evening meal on the first Saturday. You may arrive at Jorge Chavez International airport (airport code LIM) anytime on or before Saturday. Check in at our program hotel begins after 1 pm.

You must confirm your flight itinerary with us at least two weeks before the service program arrival date to confirm your team airport transfer to the hotel. Departure for the airport after the program ends can be arranged for anytime after 8 pm on Friday or Saturday morning.

Food and Lodging

Rest and comfort for a productive program.

You’ll stay in comfortable accommodations in the beautiful seaside community of Ancon, where fishermen, boaters, and vacationers share the quiet beaches and the 1.2 mile-long esplanade. Additional features:

Wi-Fi
Beach nearby
Onsite breakfast
Single rooms available for an extra fee

Peruvian cuisine is world-renown, and commonly features rice with beef, chicken and a wide variety of vegetables, sauces, herbs, and nuts. Bottled water is provided each day. Vegetarian diets can generally be accommodated. We strive to keep you well-fed, well-rested and comfortable so you can concentrate on offering your best.

: Enjoy world-renown Peruvian cuisine as a volunteer.

: Anticuchos de Carne are a popular party food.

: Peruvian food is distinctive and nutritious.

: Three meals per day are included in your service program fee.

: Peruvian food is distinctive and nutritious.

Health and Safety

Your Safety is Our Priority.

Your lodging, food and transportation are provided always with a mind to protect your health and security. Your team leader is trained in CPR and first aid to handle most emergencies. Global Volunteers includes emergency medical evacuation insurance in your service program fee. Read more about health and safety here.

We strongly recommend you consult your own physician, public health clinic and/or travel clinic for detailed travel health information. For general recommendations, consult the following sources:

Centers for Disease Control | Health Canada Online | Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

We also recommend health insurance that covers you while you are outside your home country, and trip cancellation insurance in the event you must cancel your participation on the service program. Your travel agent can refer you to travel insurance providers. Click here to read risks associated with international travel.

Program Mobility:
Accurately assess your functional mobility. Our work assignments and partner communities require varying levels of physical stamina and mobility. After you register, you will be asked about your physical capabilities relating to your mobility. Please answer the questions honestly.

Required Mobility for Peru: Mobile – Walk 1 mile, climb five flights of stairs, walk on uneven terrain, and get on and off buses and trains independently.

Global Volunteers’ Covid 19 Policy for Service Programs in the U.S. and Abroad

Team Leader

Expert team leading is our hallmark.

Diego Acosta Ruiz began working for Global Volunteers as a translator in 2019 while running his own audio production company. When we extended the Reaching Children’s Potential Program (RCP) to Peru in 2022, we hired Diego as our team leader. Diego completed our volunteer team leader training and has successfully managed groups of adults and youth. He’s been recognized by our community partner and volunteers as an honest, hard-working and congenial leader and an excellent Spanish – English translator.

Diego studied Administration and Entrepreneurship Management at Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC) in Lima and learned Audio Engineering at the School of Audio Engineering – SAE Institute in Madrid and Audio Producing at Middlesex University in London.

Free Time

Oh, what sights there are to see!

Ample time is available after the work day and on the weekend to enjoy the numerous nearby natural and cultural attractions.

Lima’s restored colonial center, upscale Miraflores district and many museums, markets and cafes are within an hour’s drive. Weekend trips include the Ballestas Islands and the Nasca Lines, Pacific Ocean coastline, mountains and nature preserves outside Lima.

You may visit Machu Picchu – one of the New Seven Wonders of the World – either before or after the service program. Because this is a physically challenging tour, we ask that you do not attempt a Machu Picchu trip during your service program. Your team leader will provide a list of the many opportunities to explore the region with tours or on your own.

Family Opportunities

Share the gift of giving to others.

Something like magic happens when children and parents volunteer together. Youth age 7 and up can play with toddlers, teach games and songs to pre-schoolers, read stories and practice English with grade school students, and tutor and encourage teens their age.

Families of many compositions – grandparents and grandchild, daughter and mother, father, mother and teen children, and niece and aunt – serve together and care for children in Peru. Their need is so great – and your reward so vast – that volunteering as a family will be an experience you’ll remember forever. Read more about family volunteering here.

“In general and overall, the trip was breath-taking and very wonderful for us, individually and as a family. We loved volunteering in Peru.”
Jeanne Blaustein, mother in volunteering family of four

Group Opportunities

Maximize the capability of your group.

Student, professional and community groups are engaged in an especially open and welcoming service-learning opportunity in Peru. Because of the wide variety of community projects, every member of your group can fully engage their unique skills and interests in meaningful service to Peruvian children and families. Learn about each other in a non-traditional way as an intact volunteer team, and know that your unique contributions on genuine development projects advance the futures of the Peruvian people.

Peru service-learning for high school and college groups

For instance, educators and health care professionals of all specialties are needed to contribute their skills to projects providing the 12 Essential Services to Peruvian youth of all ages. It’s here where a coordinated effort makes an enormous positive impact! We work with your group to develop a lasting relationship with the community – and to enable you to continue to support Peruvian families after your service program. Health care professionals can help at the local Health Clinic with primary care. There are more than 1,500 children needing care and thousands of low-income families in the surrounding shanty towns. Students and teachers practice conversational English with Peruvian students, help with homework, and tutor students in math and science. Best of all – comparing notes with your teammates at the end of the day over an authentic Peruvian meal, you reflect on the contributions you’ve made and the culture you’ve experienced together.

Details on group volunteering in Peru

“As soon as I reached out, they came with outstretched hands into my arms. I was no longer a stranger. It was very heartwarming, and the people I met are friendly and caring, all working hard to make a living. In Peru, there is still the richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor, as in any other country. However, there is hope in all humanity.”

Thelma ChunPeru Volunteer

“If English is the language of opportunity, it’s our rare privilege to play a small supportive role in our students’ quest for graduate studies, professional employment, and success. We’re inspired by their motivation; our hearts are warmed by the graciousness of the students, staff, and faculty of La Molina.”

Efy McDonnellPeru Volunteer

“This is my third program in Peru. I already loved the culture, so I didn’t have any expectations. It is absolutely unfathomable the depth of poverty in the partner community! But, I am positive my experience advanced understanding between cultures. They wanted to learn Conversational English, and I was able to give that to them. The love and joy experienced in both classes is indescribable. I always receive so much more than I could ever give!”

Elsa BoykinPeru volunteer

“Miracles do happen each day, and Global Volunteers has an appreciable percentage of them! I feel I have attained a more complex view of South America. I learned that Peruvian people work very hard and that human needs are a constant.”

Christine Avila de BramhallPeru Volunteer

“I learned a lot; that happiness exists in poverty, and that people who have little still have their pride. Most importantly, I learned that children are healing to cynical souls.”

Chelsey TollefsonPeru Volunteer