First, we want to send a big THANK YOU to all of our 2014 students and supporters for the incredible work you helped accomplish this summer. With the help of fundraising from before the program and hard work on-the-ground, we accomplished so many things to help improve the lives of the communities we work with in Peru.
As you know, informed philanthropy is a huge part of the STRIVE program, so in this post we want to give a clear breakdown of how our group spent both our person-hours and funds on projects this year. We’ll outline the projects we worked on with the total cost of each, give a summary at the end, and attach a spreadsheet with a detailed budget for all our service work.
Before our high-schoolers arrived, STRIVE staff and interns hit the ground running. Starting June 22, our 8 interns began teaching classes at the Divino Corazon Primary and Secondary School in Pisaq. This group taught six different class sections daily during two periods in English, art, and PE.
STRIVE interns leading classes at Divino Corazon
Along with teaching at Divino Corazon, interns and staff began teaching STRIVE-Center after-school English classes. These are free classes offered by STRIVE for students of all ages. The group spent a total of $347 on supplies for classes including notebooks, pencils, ESL teaching books, and photocopies.
Interns were also busy with free after-school tutoring for local students
Finally, the interns also worked on bringing the STRIVE Center running track back up to perfect condition after some minor growth during our absence. We spent a few hours each weekend picking, raking, and flattening the ground. We also employed a few local workers to help us with the task. In total, the group spent $759 on the track maintenance.
Interns and students worked hard to clear the track for public use
In addition to these, one of our interns (Isao, a Princeton pre-med student), spent an hour or two each day working at the Pisaq Public Health Clinic, where he assisted and shadowed medical professionals.
Interns and staff worked on one other additional project during these first four weeks when the group took a day-trip to the town of Ollantaytambo, where the STRIVE Spanish Immersion Program students were hard at work studying. There, the group worked in a local kindergarten which had just been relocated and was in desperate need of some help to get their grounds ready for classes. The group helped clear out a rubble-strewn courtyard, build a retaining wall, and even dug and built a sandbox for the children.
STRIVE interns and staff posing next to the sand box – one of several projects accomplished in this one-day service spree in Ollantaytambo!
Once the high school group arrived in Pisaq, we continued working on some of our established projects (including maintaining the track and teaching at Divino Corazon, see above), while adding several other projects.
First, we worked with another primary and secondary school called Tambo de Gozo (translated: “House of Joy”). Here, STRIVE students worked on reading comprehension and pronunciation with students of all ages during English class in addition to helping lead PE exercises and games.
STRIVE students have reading class outside at Tambo de Gozo!
Students also worked at the CEBA School – a unique night-school offered in Pisaq for the many students who work during the day. Even students as young as 8 or 10 years old are often found working in markets, stores, and restaurants of family members, and CEBA offers them a place to study in the evening so they can still get an education. STRIVE members led English classes in the evening 2-3 nights per week at CEBA, where the tiny classes (2-4 students usually) were extremely happy to have us. These students were there voluntarily, taking time out of their already busy days, and so they generally really wanted to learn. STRIVE students found these to be some of the most rewarding students with whom they worked.
Due to school vacation week, we continued working at Tambo de Gozo the following week at their free camp for students. The students came from all over the Sacred Valley – as far away as Cusco! – and many who weren’t able to afford to travel were sponsored by the school. STRIVE led activities and games where we continued to try to teach English vocabulary while still having a ton of fun outside.
STRIVE students lead Peruvian campers in the “color race” – learning English vocab, exercising, and having fun all at once!
At the end of school vacation week, the group spent time preparing for the grand opening of the STRIVE Center running track, which we’d been working on for the past 4 weeks. The group finished clearing all of the rocks and grass from the track (a HUGE task), painted lines on to make it look beautiful, and then spent a few afternoons publicizing the event (even getting onto the local radio). The opening day itself was a huge success. Over 50 local kids showed up for our free day of sports and fun. STRIVErs led races, games, and even prepared a home-made free lunch for everyone who competed. It was a great opportunity for the kids who showed up and a great experience for our students. In total, the group spent $235 on field day, with most money being spent on supplies and food for the day.
The beautiful STRIVE public running track – ready for our grand opening field day!
Peruvian youngsters compete in the 100m dash at the grand opening of the STRIVE running track!
Even with all of this work, students still had a fair amount of their fundraising dollars left, and so the group decided to pursue a few last large projects. Having spoken with Divino Corazon and CEBA (the two schools with which we work most), students decided to take on several unique projects.
First, for Divino Corazon, students purchased over a dozen brand new sports balls for the school. DC had a small athletic space and several very old balls, and with health through athletics in mind, STRIVE wanted to help them fund a bigger and more inclusive PE program. STRIVE Intern Riley Martin also donated his laptop to the school, to be used for lesson planning and in conjunction with a projector for teaching. In total, the group spent $675.
STRIVErs posing with Divino Corazon students and faculty and some of the new sports balls to start off the new PE program!
After a meeting with the director of CEBA, students decided to guide the majority of their funds towards the tiny school, as they needed help in a variety of areas. First, the group funded a project to complete a classroom (removing everything from inside, cleaning it, and purchasing tiling and concrete for the floor). Next, the group undertook one of our most challenging projects – installing a running water plumbing system through the school. CEBA had previously only had running water in one small set of pit-toilets outside of the school-buildings. The director asked us to assist in this to help improve sanitation and to help bring irrigation to parts of their land that they could use for growing food. STRIVE students, interns, and staff spent several days at the end of the program digging trenches, hauling rocks, pick-axing through walls (the pipe literally had to go THROUGH a building), laying pipes, and filling those trenches back in. It was an exhausting task, but we accomplished an incredible amount (with many thanks to their staff who helped oversee the project). The group also donated sports equipment (soccer and volleyballs) to CEBA, with the hope of helping them establish a more concrete PE program as well. Even more, the group donated two full-sized soccer goals, a set of volley-ball posts, and a new iron-worked door for the school. In total, the group spent $1315 on these last projects for CEBA, with the majority going to the tiles and cement for the new classroom.
A small portion of the trench dug by STRIVErs to help bring running water to CEBA
Finally, even with ALL of this incredible work, the group still had some fundraising dollars left. They decided to allocate them to future work for the STRIVE Center, specifically the completion of the furnishing of the inside of the Center (putting in a floor and building walls), with any remaining funds to be spent on school supplies like books and notebooks. Currently, the public school in Pisaq is using the space as temporary classroom as it undergoes a construction project. STRIVE’s work in the Center should be able to resume in late 2014/early 2015 once the school has finished its own construction. The total allocated by students for the Center was $473.
Funds for the STRIVE Center will help us continue to offer programs like our free after-school English lessons!
All in all, it was an incredibly successful summer in Peru, with a ton of great work put in by everyone. We can’t wait to follow along in Pisaq and see how all of these projects are improving the lives of students and adults in the months and years to come!
Finally, please feel free to read over the 2014 STRIVE-Peru Donation Budget spreadsheet which gives a detailed breakdown of all of our fundraising expenditure over the course of the program. The students and interns from Peru Session 2 raised just over $3000 total with the rest of the donations coming directly from STRIVE and friends of STRIVE who have given funds in the past year. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with any questions or comments. We’re happy to answer anything!
Leave A Comment