 About us
The Peru's
Challenge Program works with volunteers to create opportunities for children
living in the Andes of Peru in South America.
The Program was started by Jane Gavel (Australian) and Selvy Ugaz (Peruvian) when they were just 24 years old.
Since October 2003, when the volunteer program started, they have helped nearly 1000 families, and started to educate over 500 children in four different communities.
The charity is not affiliated with any other organisation and is purely managed by Jane and Selvy from Peru.
For details on the Peru's Challenge projects, please click here.
Our aims
1.
To create basic opportunities for the children of Peru:
- Education
- Health
- Happy and safe environment
Before
starting any project, we have lengthy discussions with all members of
the community to ascertain what it is that they want and require for
their children and how we can work closely together.
It is very
important the community feels that we are working as a team. Constantly
through the project development, we involve the community in all decisions
and plans. This way, they learn to continue the great work that we have
done together and become self sustaining with the support of the relationship
built with the Department of Education for years to come.
2.
To provide an exceptional travel and volunteer experience.
Peru's
Challenge is also very committed to providing and exceptional volunteer
travel experience to all of our participating volunteers.
Our
volunteers are the life-blood of the organisation. It is their invaluable
assistance that makes our job of assisting local Peruvian communities
possible.
Being part of the Peru's
Challenge volunteer team is about realising how easy it is to give Peruvian
children more opportunities, while travelling and enjoying the absolute
beauty of Peru, and making friendships with other volunteers from around
the world.
WHO WE ARE
Jane
Gavel, President
jane@peruschallenge.com
Throughout 2002, Jane travelled extensively in Mexico, Central America
and South America. Basing herself in Cuzco, Peru for eight months Jane
completed a Spanish language course and taught English to local students.
It was here
she confirmed an interest in establishing a not-for-profit organisation
to help children in the rural communities of Peru and started working
with a volunteer organisation assisting children with special mental
and physical needs.
Prior
to Jane's time in Peru, she worked in the marketing communications industry
in Australia for over six years after completing a Bachelor of Communications
with marketing and public relations majors at the University of Canberra.
Jane now divides her time between Peru and Australia.
Selvy
Ugaz, Vice President
selvy@peruschallenge.com
Born in Lima, the capital of Peru, Selvy has spent the last six years
assisting underprivileged children in Lima and Cuzco.
In 2000,
Selvy helped register a Peruvian charity in Urubamba to assist children with
special mental and physical needs. Organising for land to be donated, the organisation built the first school
of its kind with the sole purpose of giving children the love and education
they deserved.
Prior to
2000, Selvy completed a business and banking administration course and then lived and worked in England and Mexico. He completed a number
of English language courses, and now speaks English fluently.
Mark, Volunteer Manager, Peru
volunteer@peruschallenge.com
Mark joined Peru's Challenge as Volunteer Manager in December 2007 following three months as one of our volunteers earlier in the year.
Mark speaks English and Spanish and assists all our volunteers before, during and after their placements to ensure they get the most out of our program.
If you have any questions regarding our volunteer program, please send Mark an email.
Santusa, 'Mother Hen' of our volunteer houses, Peru
Santusa has been working with Peru's Challenge since the volunteer program started in October 2003.
She is like a second mother to all our volunteers.
Santusa comes to cook a great lunch for the volunteers and clean the houses twice a week.
Friends of Peru's Challenge
Spending
time with Peru's Challenge enriches the lives of every one of our volunteers.
It is an experience that they feel very proud of and remember for a
lifetime.
Each
of our volunteers is positively affected by the kids and families they
work with and leave our placements knowing that they have made an invaluable
difference.
For this
reason, past volunteers have started up "Friends of Peru's Challenge".
They work together to give updates about our successes and organise
fundraising opportunities for the Peruvian children.
They are
also available to answer any questions you may have about volunteering
with Peru's Challenge.
Please send an email to Friends of Peru's Challenge.
Who is helping now?
Peru's Challenge would like to give a big thank you to the following people and organisations for all their help:
| Our amazing staff |
Ginny - looking after our volunteers so well.
Milly- organising our tours.
Sammy - volunteering to help our UK volunteers get organised for their trip.
Santusa - feeding our volunteers so well.
|
| Ultimate Tours |
Organising tours for our volunteers in Peru at discounted rates.
|
| Peregrine and Geckos |
Organising tours to visit our projects.
Helping out with our 'Small Loans for Community Development' project in the community of Pumamarca.
|
| Southern Crossings |
For visiting our projects and providing funds to purchase fruit for the kids. |
| Five Star PR |
For providing free Marketing and PR advice.
Thanks Nicole for everything! |
| Brisbane Girls Grammer School |
Helping to educate the kids in Pumamarca. |
| Antipodeans Abroad |
Organising for school groups to come and volunteer to complete specific projects (build showers, a new kitchen etc.). |
Great Outdoors, Channel 7, Australia
|
For filming such a great program on Peru's Challenge. Thanks Ernie Dingo and team! To see what they covered, click here.
|
| Gilbert + Tobin |
Assisting us with legal advice from Australia.
|
| DHL |
"DHL Danzas Air & Ocean are delighted to provide our expertise in support of Peru's
Challenge, whose activities are at the heart of
local communities across Peru. Although we are a global organisation, we are
present in over 220 countries and therefore work within many varied local communities and
support local social development works".
Penny Darnbrook
Corporate Communications Manager UK & Ireland, DHL. |
| Gulf For Good |
For visiting and supporting the development projects for Huandar, including the provision of safe drinkable water into the community and school.
|
| Guide, Sweden |
For allowing your employees to take time off work to volunteer and assist us in Peru.
|
| Macquarie Bank |
For assisting with the Huandar project, specifically with education of the kids and setting up the mothers group workshop and facilities.
|
| Website assistance |
A big thanks to Lisa Robinson, Jonathan Wells
and James McRobert.
|
Austcorp
Austcorp’s commitment to recycling to save the environment and assist the children of Peru. |
"In 2004, Austcorp was introduced to an organisation called “Peru’s Challenge” which specifically focuses on child education, health and hygiene standards in indigenous mountain villages of Peru.
We discovered that the children attending the school classes organised by Peru’s Challenge had limited access to pens, pencils and exercise books.
In response to this, Austcorp now collects all A-grade quality used paper, (all other paper is recycled locally), for a quarterly paper binding session during staff lunch hours.
During these sessions, Austcorpians volunteer to sort and line the useable side of each piece of paper, print covers and bind exercise books and scrap books for the school.
So far this year [2005] we have produced over 100 books which have since been shipped to Peru and are being used by the students for English lessons and who attend the summer school".
Emma Chappell
Marketing Consultant, Austcorp Group Limited
|
| Past and present volunteers |
Thanks to your hard work, we have been able to achieve so much in such a short space of time. |
| Selvy and Jane's families |
Thanks for all your advice, assistance and constant encouragement. |
|
