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Peru Teaching
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Volunteer in Peru in your gap year, year out or career break
Follow the trail of the ancients across the Andes, a mountain range steeped in mystery and legend. Cross into a land so inaccessible that until recently only the most adventurous explorers have penetrated its emerald depths and live among a community that has endured for centuries almost entirely cut off from the rest of the world. There, you'll teach basic English to young students who are keen to learn. After, you can climb sheer cliffs overlooking clear mountain lakes, trek across vast stretches of desert, or surf the legendary breaks off the Peruvian coast.
Project Dates & Contribution
- Departs: Monthly
- Duration: 4 weeks and longer
- Cost: £995 for 4 weeks, £195 per extra week
Before you go: Comprehensive pre-departure support, travel & medical advice & documentation, equipment advice, discounted medical kit and free Frontier T-shirt.
UK TEFL training day and certification.
In-country: Food, accommodation, airport pickup & drop off, local orientation & project training, in-country emergency support and 24 hour international HQ backup.
or 
Minimum age 17+.
Project Details
Transportation
On arrival in Lima at the Jorge Chavez International Airport you will be met by a member of the local in-country team and transferred directly to your home for the next few weeks in the highlands of Peru! At the end of your project you will be transferred to the airport for your return flight.
Accommodation
Volunteers will be in a comfortable volunteer residence or with a Peruvian family in their home. Please let us know if you have a preference, and a small extra charge may apply. The families are typical middle class Peruvians and enjoy opening their homes to foreign visitors. If you choose the homestay option you will have opportunities to practise your conversation and comprehension skills with your family. In addition, you will observe and participate in everyday Peruvian life and culture. You will be provided with a bedroom, shower, and laundry facilities.
Food
You'll eat with your host family in the family kitchen or in the kitchen in the volunteer house. Your meals will be a delicious variety of local food and with luck your hosts may even be willing to show you how to cook traditional Peruvian food! On Sunday lunch and dinner are not provided as volunteers are often on excursions to nearby tourist sites and places of interest.
Work
Your work schedule will cover a varied and enjoyable teaching programme which will engage you fully with your pupils and will awaken your creativity and initiative. Volunteers will work with local street children in an informal setting which will encourage you to formulate ideas and develop your teaching skills and techniques. Depending on your particular areas of interest and skill you could be teaching English, French, maths, science, geography, or even health awareness. You might be asked to become involved with marking pupils' work and producing an inspiring teaching plan including preparing homework and assembling innovative and effective lesson plans.
In addition to this you could organise or help with a variety of extracurricular activities depending on your personal skills and interests, whether it be helping put on a school play, organising a choir, or helping coach a sports team, just use your initiative! Whatever you decide, you are sure to gain huge satisfaction from inspiring these underprivileged children, whilst enhancing your own skills and experience significantly.
 | This is a Frontier Supported Project |
Extras
A range of adventure and cultural activities such as visits to remote villages, mountain treks, and river rafting are available. Your homestay hosts and project staff will be happy to help you arrange exciting activities and if you book direct you will help support the local economy.
Training & Qualifications
Volunteers on the Frontier-Peru Teaching Project can get a TEFL certificate at no additional cost! This will help you to teach anywhere in the world and is great for demonstrating your experience to foreign language education employers.
Your TEFL training will take place over a day at our London Office. We'll take you through everything from basic grammar and punctuation to lesson plan development and communication skills! This is also a great opportunity to meet other volunteers and learn more about Frontier.
You might be worried that you don't have any teaching experience. Don't be! This course is designed for people who are teaching for the first time. We'll take you through the basics, making sure that you are comfortable with the material at every step of the way.
Learn more about the TEFL certificate!
Project aims
Education System in Disrepair
In Peru, the presence of a village school and teacher is considered by the poor as the most important first step on the road to progress out of poverty. However, in many rural areas difficult terrain and a lack of proper staff training have left poor children with an educational system that is largely dysfunctional. One problem is that the government is unable to supply rural schools with adequate educational materials. Rural and informal schools rarely have textbooks, reading materials, maps, charts or reference materials for teachers and students. Another is that teachers are often insufficiently trained and insufficiently motivated to teach children properly. In many cases, staff absenteeism has led to the closure of village schools.
You’ll help these children to reach their true potential and bring joy to their lives by teaching, playing football, singing songs, and doing arts and crafts with them - a truly rewarding and enriching experience.
Alternatives
We have other projects in Peru or if it is teaching that interests you, have a look at our programmes in Nepal, Argentina and Mongolia!
What next?
If you like the sound of teaching in Peru, then request a callback from one of our travel advisers or use our online booking form to apply now and secure your adventure of a lifetime!
Frontier supported projects and Frontier group projects are run in partnership with in-country NGOs, small community based organisations, local research institutes, academic organisations and conservation agencies. Project descriptions and information are supplied directly by our partners or field staff and are accurate at time of publishing.
We aim to keep information up to date and accurate, however, the nature of our projects and in particular the fact that they are constantly evolving and developing in response to changing needs means that project activities, travel schedules, tour itineraries and daily timetables can change overnight and without notice.