Volunteer in Peru - Cusco | Most Affordable Projects

I liked the hoast family we stayed with and how the staff helped us with everything. I was a little disapointed at the description of the program because it stated that we would be assistissng in surgery and shadow doctors, but we never did any of that. What we mostly worked on was cleaning wounds and putting injections. The hospital practices were unsterill and we had to bring our own gloves and medical equipment. We had multiple ocations were we bought needles for patients that were poor (the staff would reuse old needles if we didnt buy new ones). Other than that Peru is a beautiful country with many hidden treasures. I would recommend visiting Huacachina and Huayana Picchu. If you choose this mission trip I wish you best of luck. Just remember that nothing in cusco is real alpaca apart from the high end stores. Sweaters should be 20-35 Soles in the San Pedro market (for 20% alpaca).

I appreciated living with a family and working and living a local life away from most tourists part of the time. The family we stayed with made us feel welcome and included us in their lives. We were able to assist in the preschool and connect with the children and teacher. One teacher taught 22 children, so we were able to assist the class with crafts and other activities. After the first day we understood the schedule, so we felt useful in the classroom and could also work one on one with the children when we had time. Two memories stand out- one assisting with the morning exercises at the preschool, the other watching local children participate in traditional dances at a school.

I have loved my volunteering experience here in Cusco, Peru. We worked with kids in a preschool in a nearbye town to Cusco. It was wonderful to get to help the teacher. She has 22 students, ages 3 and 4. The kids had lots of energy and all wanted attention from the teacher. She handles it well, but she greatly appreciated our help. The family we stayed with was extremely nice and helpful and the people from Volunteering Solutions were very helpful as well. All in all it was a wonderful experience.

I had an incredible experience with Volunteering Solutions in Cusco, Peru for two weeks. This was my first time traveling alone, and I felt completely secure throughout my trip. I was placed with a wonderful host family who made me feel so welcome. It was very easy to take the public bus to my volunteer work in a daycare center every morning. The children in the daycare center are extraordinary. They are so friendly and eager to learn. I always felt needed while I was there, and I left there every afternoon feeling fulfilled and joyful. There were many large public protests in Cusco while I was there, and the Peruvian coordinators of Volunteering Solutions made every effort to make sure the other volunteers and I were safe. The entire experience was unforgettable and a great way to practice my Spanish. I definitely want to volunteer with Volunteering Solutions in the future!

This program was an amazing experience for me. I was only in Cusco for 2 weeks but I wish I could have stayed forever! My host family was very nice, my accomodation was great, it was clean and the meals were very good too. I loved my placement, I worked at the kindergarten and I loved working with the kids, I really felt like I was making a difference, the teachers there really needed the help. As for my coordinator, Jenny, she was amazing, she always answered all of my questions and was always there for me. She always made sure that we were safe. Cusco is a very beautiful place and there are a lot of things to see there, so I definetly enjoyed being able to explore the city and get to know the amazing Peruvian culture. One of my highlights was meeting other volunteers from different parts of the world. I made really good friends that I hope to keep in touch with for a long time. Overall, I loved it, it was one of the best experiences that I've had and I really recommend it.

I stayed in Cusco with a lovely Peruvian family. Gloria was my host mum, Reese, my host father and their two children, Luis, and Laura. They all made me feel very welcome despite a bit of a language barrier. Me an Luis would play football up on the roof of the house and I taught him some new games. Laura liked to draw and I would draw her pictures and make plasticine animals for her, I even helped make her a frog costume for a school project. My placement involved traveling to the outskirts of the city to help at a kindergarten. The kindergarten itself was a very small room and in one day could have as much as 30 children, ages 3-5, attend. My duties included marking and preparing homework, helping the children with their work, playing games with the children and generally helping the teacher take care of the class. While I was volunteering at the kindergarten the class was also preparing for a parade so I was also involved in leading the class through a marching routine outside and supervising the children.
As well as volunteering in Peru I was also given the opportunity to see some of the sights in my spare time alongside some of the other volunteers. I went to see many of the Inca ruins; Sacsayhuaman, Ollantayambo, Pukapukara and Machu Pichu, to name a few. I also rode a pony up Rainbow Mountain. My programme also included a visit to a bakery to see how some of the local bread was made. Overall I had an amazing time in Cusco, had many wonderful experiences and met many wonderful people. I would definitely recommend the programme.

This was an amazing trip! I went between my first and second years of medical school to get more patient experience and practice Spanish. I had previously lived in Spain for 2 years but had not used Spanish as much as I would have liked to since I returned to the US, so this was a great opportunity to immerse myself in the language again.

I worked in an underserved clinic from 8am to 1pm and helped triage, provide wound care, and provided medications and immunizations to patients. The nurses there were great to work with and would show me once or twice what to do and then every patient after that I was able to work with.

The host family I had was incredible! They were so interesting in my story, in my family, and in making sure that I had everything I would need while I was there. The people are truly what make these projects worth it. I was able to go to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley, and as incredible as they are, nothing compares to the people that I worked with and lived with.

I would highly recommend this program to anyone who is wanting to practice Spanish, get medical experience, learn a new culture, and see the world.

I only volunteered for about 2 weeks, so I don't have a lot of stories... but here was something that struck me as memorable. I worked in the triage room for 1-2 hours every morning where we would weigh and take the heights of everyone that came to the clinic. I quickly noticed that about 90% of the women under 40 who were visiting the clinic were there to see obstetricians. All of the women were alone and many were in their teens...I couldn't believe how many young single mothers there were! I later found out that birth control pills were free, with or without insurance. I wondered WHY so many girls were getting pregnant. After speaking to another volunteer, I found out that there is a social stigma against birth control, deep rooted in the religious views of the country.