Huancayo Hotels
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Help Us Help Huancayo's Kids
Entry 12 of 44 | show all | print this entry |
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Hello Friends and Family -
For the last two and a half weeks, the two of us have been volunteering with the program Peru For You in the city of Huancayo. This locally run program takes on English-speaking international volunteers to teach English to area orphans or work in community health. We have been teaching English in a boys orphanage twice a day, as well as teaching English in a language institute to raise funds for the organization's outreach program. The outreach program provides breakfast to about 60 street children in Huancayo, provides medicine and health and dental care to the poor communities in several parts of Peru, and supports local orphanages with shoes, clothing and other materials.
Huancayo is located in the central portion of Peru, in the Andes. Like many communities in the Andes, which are disproportionately
indigenous, there is a great deal of economic disparity, poverty and a very large community of orphans (one reason being that the Shining Path was active in this area, if you remember that group from the 90s...) Peru is one of the poorest countries in Latin America, their public school system is reportedly the second worst in all of Latin America, there is widespread unemployment and underemployment (54% below the poverty line) and their political system has a long history of corruption. It is very hard to break out of the cycle of poverty in Peru, and many Peruvians have become very cynical about their country's future. However, as we have come to find during our time here, the people behind Peru For You are fighting against this cynicism and doing a commendable job at making a difference in the Huancayo community. The work that we are specifically doing in the orphanages is intended to give the children English skills needed to find technical or tourism jobs upon leaving the orphanage when they turn 18.
We write this all to you because we are going to complete our stay here on Friday, April 15, and would like to give Peru For You additional help through a monetary donation before leaving. However, because we are limited in what we can give on our own, we hoped that the combined resources of our friends and family would allow us to give the organization more substantial help. The program needs donations to help pay for materials (books for orphans in the English program, for example) and basic health and dental care for orphans and street children, in addition to their breakfast program. An additional current pressing need is that two children in the outreach program have leukemia and lack the funds for medicine and proper medical care (the parents of one shine shoes and wash clothes for a living and the father of the other sells fruit).
We have full confidence in the Peru For You organization, which is the only way we would ask for help from you all like this, considering the wide range of worthy organizations out there. Any amount is appreciated, as Peru is a poor country and even a small amount of money goes a long way. For example:
$5 - Three English Workbooks
$10 - Breakfast for Eight Street Children
$25 - Three Cavities Filled
$50 - Three Pairs of New Shoes or Five Pairs of Second-Hand Shoes
$100 - Medicine for Cancer Treatment
If you (or your employer, professional organization, church, etc.) can contribute, there are two ways you can get the money to us to give Peru For You before we leave...
If you have a PayPal account (or want to open one for free - www.paypal.com), you can deposit money in Jeff's PayPal account by doing the following (by the end of this week):
Step 1 - Log In to your PayPal account.
Step 2 - Click on "Send Money"
Step 3 - Fill out the Send Money form using jeffreimann@hotmail.com as the recipient's email address.
Step 4 - When selecting "Category of Purchase," pick "Service." If you use a credit card, DO NOT pick "Quasi-Cash" or you may be charged for a cash advance by your bank.
Step 5 - After form is complete, click "Continue" to review your details. Select "No Shipping Address Required." When everything is ready, click on "Send Money."
There is no cost to you to use PayPal and it saves you the trouble of mailing a check. But, if you do not have an account or prefer not to send money over the internet, here's what to do...
First, please email us through TravelPod or at rockingreimann@gmail.com as soon as possible (definitely by Friday, April 15 - think taxes) to let us know that you are planning on contributing - we can front the money for you at the end of this week when we make our donation. You can reimburse us by sending a check.
If you have any questions, comments or ideas, drop us a line...
Thanks in advance...
Allison, Jeff and Peru For You
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| 12. | Help Us Help Huancayo's Kids - Huancayo, Peru Apr 11, 2005 (  3 ) |
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