Check out what our madventurers in villages around Huaraz and around Cuzco in Peru managed to achieve during the first 10 years at Madventurer....

Ayarmaca Village, near to the town of Chinchero, Cusco: Building 15 bathrooms for 15 families

In the summer of 2011 two groups of volunteers spent their time in the beautiful village of Ayarmaca really making a difference within the community. The village has never had any help from any NGO's in the past and the local municipality does little to help the village due to lack of funds. Once meeting with the president of the village Fredi Mescco it betcame apparant the main priority of the villagers was the lack of toilets. Many families (who often have several children) have no toilet, no shower (it's far too cold for outdoor showers) or hand basins. Many people resort to just going out into the fields to go to the toilet! The first group of volunteers built 8 bathrooms and the second group 7. It was hard work at times especially with the foundations and plumbing but all the volunteers got the hang of it very quickly! The villagers were all really thrilled as it makes a really different to their lives and especially their childrens. As well as building every afternoon we had all the children in the village come to meet with the volunteers and they taught them english, played games, did arts and crafts and sports. In 2012 the village have requested our return and want us to help collaborate with them and build a community centre. Many times a week the villagers along with the president organise meetings to discuss local affairs, as well as having many events such as village anniversaries and celebrations. Unfortunately they currently have no where to hold these meetings that are a vital part of village life and culture. With a lot wind/rain and cold temperatures at certain times of the year this is not very convenient. Its quite a large build so we need as many volunteers as possible!

Azul Wasi Boy's Home: Renovation and Maintenance Project

In the summer of 2010 volunteers went out to Peru to help out in the Azul Wasi boys home. The home is set in a beautiful village called Oropesa about an hour from Cusco. All the boys in the home used to be street children, living rough and with my problems. Alcides, a local police man, decided to set the home up in order to create a safe environment for the boys to live and learn. The boys attend the local school in Oropesa as well as help out around the home. The home comprises of dormitories, a large dining room with television and desks for them to do their homework, bathrooms and a kitchen. It is very basic and requires a lot of maintenance work in order to make it more comfortable. The Mad volunteers spent 6 weeks fixing all the broken windows throughout the home (there were a lot), installing ceiling insulation as it gets pretty cold in the Andes on a night time, tiling the bathrooms and painting the outside of all the buildings, installing functioning showers, outdoor sinks for washing up, built a chicken run and as well as this spent quality with the boys, teaching, helping with homework and generally having lots of fun!

Casa del Corazon: The building of a workshop for training and employment at a children’s home in Cusco.

Casa del Corazon is a home and school for country children, who mainly come from a small rural village about 45 minutes from Cusco city. Due to the lack of facilities in rural communities, and transport problems, many children receive a poor education, if they attend school at all. Most children by the age of ten are put to work in the fields. Many families want their children to continue to study, but this option is not available to them. From a young age, children have educational problems arising from teachers being unable to teach that day due to transport problems, from lack of school resources, from lack of good teachers, from language difficulties as the rural communities speak Quechua. To combat these difficulties, if a family wants their children to study past the age of ten, they are often sent to Cusco to live with a relative and study at a better school.

For the children, being sent to the city to study gives rise to another set of problems. The children, to pay their way in the relative’s home, have to work in shops, restaurants, or on the streets, and as a result have little time or energy to dedicate to their studies. They are often subject to verbal or physical abuse for being unable to speak Spanish and being darker in skin colour than mestizos (those of more Spanish descent). Many abandon their studies disillusioned, and retreat into themselves and return to work in the fields for the rest of their lives, with a fear and hatred for the outside world.

Casa del Corazon is a well-run establishment, but lacks funds to provide every opportunity for these children that it wishes to. We wish to construct a carpentry workshop and kit it out, so that the children can learn valuable practical skills on-site. We will also want to re-build the greenhouse which provides essential fresh food for the children and helps the home be more self-sustaining and reduce its running costs. It is also planned to renovate, tidy up and paint in the home and its grounds, and get the shed intended for guinea pig rearing back into shape to provide a self sustaining meat source for the home.

San Judas Chico Home for Girls

San Judas Chico Home for Girls is a home for young girls who are vulnerable, abused or abandoned. The home is small, cramped and run-down; the beneficiary society, currently supporting running costs, is unable to provide any additional funds for repairs, renovation or expansion. The staff and residents have been trying to raise funds for repairs and new facilities through dance and music performances, but with no room to practice or perform; this has been to little avail. The home has basic facilities and relies heavily on the support of its benefactors; in the past overseas aid has been the only means for small projects or repairs to be made.

The home has approached us to support them in expanding their over-crowded facilities; currently the girls have no room to study, learn new skills, and practise their music and dance or to play. In providing a room that can be used for study, learning and a cottage craft industry, the home will gain a greater degree of self-sufficiency by being able to generate income from more practised dance and music performances and through their own cottage crafts. Local craftsmen have already indicated a willingness to instruct the girls, free of charge, once the correct environment is available. With more room the girls resident in the home would have a better chance of improving their academic and employment skills and of building a happy adult life.

Summer 2005: How we helped protect children at a school in Llupa, Northern Peru

Llupa is a small indigenous village in northern Peru. A poor community with many development needs, their basic school building and its pupils were endangered by the unpredictable river flowing alongside the school.

We have been able to support the building of a wall and in the summer of this year with the help of volunteers from Madventurer a wall was constructed much to the delight of local parents.

One of the parents, a local cook called Hermelinda (pictured above with her two daughters) was one of the many who came forward to express what the building of this wall meant:

“It’s a fantastic project. Something that we [the village] have wanted for a long time but not had the money. Before it was built we used to send our children down the school very scared, very scared for their safety. The river is so close and the children play so close to it that we were constantly afraid that they would have an accident. There had been two occasions previous where children had played too close and fallen in. Also the river always rises during the rainy season which made the situation even more worrying. Now we are so much happier in the knowledge that we can send our children to the school and only have to worry about their education not their safety!”