News

Sian and Jane running for the Porvenir children !!

2008-10-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

On October 19th 2008, Jane and Sian will be taking part in the Abingdon marathon. It's Sian's 6th marathon and Jane's 3rd. For this event they both decided to raise funds for SKIP.
If you would like to sponsor Jane and Sian and thus support SKIP, please visit http://www.justgiving.com/siansmarathon08

Good luck to both of you from all at SKIP!

Skip’s Summer Trip, 2008 Edition

2008-08-19T07:38:00.000-07:00

Each year, July brings the celebrations of Peru’s independence, as well as the mid-semester break for the kids and families of SKIP. In order to celebrate these events we organized a trip for all those who participate in our program - now almost 500 people.

The children and parents who we work with wouldn’t normally get the opportunity to enjoy a day out, and the effort we put in was soon rewarded by the smiles on everyone’s faces.

The kids had a great time in the swimming pools (they didn’t want to get out of there!), canoeing on a lake located in the middle of the “Moche” park, riding on a motorcycle and playing football and volleyball with their parents and SKIP’s team of volunteers.

The parents also got their share of good moments, with music and non-stop dancing till the end of the day. Those who preferred to relax enjoyed the green lawns and the shining sun of this wonderful day, while their children were having lots of fun a few meters away.

This fun filled day made everyone very happy – Kids, parents, and SKIP volunteers alike. It was also very important as it offered the families an experience that they would otherwise be unable to enjoy.

We all came home with smiles on our faces, while our 10 buses convoy made heads turn on the highway.

As always, the families and the members of SKIP’s team are grateful for all those who helped to make this event an unforgettable day for the children.

Link to our video of the day, click here

Another Successful Curry Evening

2008-07-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

On Monday 30^th June Paul O'Brien organised another successful curry evening, this time at the Indian Voojan in Cheltenham. Over 50 curry lovers, many of them active supporters of SKIP, gathered to sample the delights of this new addition to the Cheltenham restaurant scene. Our thanks go to the staff who supplied a delicious fixed price menu.

Also many thanks to all those who generously supported the raffle enabling us to raise over £500 in total!

"San Pedro" Feria in Huanchaco !!!

2008-06-30T20:24:00.000-07:00

On the 29th of June Huanchaco held its annual celebration of "Dia de San Pedro". San Pedro, the patron saint of the fishermen, is a an important figure in Huanchaco - a city where the fishermen still use the same style hand made reed boats as their ancestors of the Mochica y Chimú cultures had used a thousand years ago.

People from all over Peru came for the celebration.

Thanks to the municipality of Huanchaco SKIP was there to celebrate as well. We had a small stand where SKIP mothers were able to sell their handmade bags, jewelry, and other crafts. One of the mums also sold delicious tamales (making the SKIP volunteers especially happy). The day was a great success, and perhaps more importantly, a wonderful opportunity for the mothers and volunteers to spend a relax day together under the sun.

Friday afternoon workshops at SKIP

2008-05-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

Carrying on from the success of the summer school programme, volunteers have continued to run a variety of exciting workshops for children on Friday afternoons. Joseph has continued his English classes, and there are also chess and guitar lessons on offer. All the children have shown great potential and enthusiasm in these three areas, but special mention goes to eleven year old Gersen, who has put such an amazing effort into learning English, even to the point of composing his own extensive notebook of English vocabulary, which is already half full!

>> Check Ari´s Post on the volunteers blog : "Hello Teacher, my friend forever"

Surfing classes for SKIP kids

2008-04-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

Since December SKIP has been working with ‘Chicho’s surfing school’ (Muchik) to give secondary school students from Porvenir the opportunity to take surfing lessons. Early every Monday during the summer SKIP volunteers take the children by bus to the beach at Huanchaco, one of the best places for surfing and learning to surf in Peru. A group of Spanish surfers (Hands and Surf) have helped us by providing some boards and gears for the kids and ‘Chicho’s Surfing School’ provides the free teaching.

Chicho’s Muchik surf school is run by experienced and friendly surf teachers who have been really enthusiastic about helping kids in the community and working with SKIP. By renting their boards to the Huanchaco tourists, Chicho and his brother Omar (both experienced surf teachers) have been able to raise money and pay transportation and food for the SKIP children. Chicho´s family has always been known in Huanchaco for the social help they provide to the Huanchaco kids and now to Porvenir Children.

Thanks to this collaboration kids who would never otherwise get the opportunity to surf (nor see the ocean) are having fun riding the waves. And some of them promise to be future Peru champions !

A special thank to you, Chicho !!

English Teaching in Porvenir

2008-04-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

There are currently four SKIP volunteers teaching English in three schools in Porvenir: Lizarzaburu, Indoamericano and JC Mariategui. In the mornings they give classes to sixth graders with the aim of providing a fun and simple introduction to the English language. In the afternoon they teach secondary classes, with a view to improving students speaking and listening skills and introducing some appreciation of different places and cultures.

There are normally about 40 kids per class – an almost unmanageable number – so SKIP volunteers have been working in pairs, often breaking classes into smaller groups, and focusing on activities and team work. The great majority of the children are extremely friendly and eager to learn; some even practice their English with volunteers in the school yard. A few of the teachers have been very supportive, but others have taken on much less of an active role. We are still working on establishing a more productive working relation with the teaching staff as a whole.

Formal contracts have been signed with the schools, and we also plan to work closely with the school teachers to improve their English, and share new ideas for language teaching. Hopefully we will be able to involve other training institutions in this process. We have now been working together with Indoamericano for five years and have built up excellent relations with the school in this time. One really positive thing to have come from this is that on Saturday mornings they give us use of the school premises so we can hold extra classes and workshops.

Award from the National University of Trujillo

2008-03-15T11:43:00.000-07:00

On the 7th of March SKIP director Berangere Furbacco, our Social Worker intern Hilda Pachamango and Social worker Karin Cedeño, attended a presentation evening organised by the UNT, National University of Trujillo.

SKIP was one of twenty institutions chosen by the social studies faculty to receive an award.
The award was given in recognition of the positive social contribution SKIP is making in El Porvenir and also as an acknowledgement of the long standing collaboration we have with the University’s faculty of social studies.

For several years SKIP has been providing internships to social work students, many of whom have continued to play an active part in the programme. As well as receiving this award SKIP will also sign a formal agreement with the University to continue taking on new interns in the future.

Construction work at the SKIP office : “La famosa Techada”

2008-03-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a donation received in the last year from Wilbor Oliveros Cerna, the director of a large Peruvian construction company, we have been able to start work on a project to extend the SKIP premises. Three new classrooms made of bricks have already been erected, and with the promise of further support from Wilbor and his associates, we will be able to build another three classrooms over the next year, gradually phasing out the old wooden structures. In accordance with tradition, Wilbor has been named “Padrino” (Godfather) of the SKIP new building, and the ex Mayor of Florencia de Mora, Idelson Terrones, who kindly purchased material for windows and doors, has been named Padrino of the roof.

Construction work started at the end of February, in the heat of late summer, and has progressed at an admirable pace, without the aid of any modern machinery.

Children and parents involved in the SKIP programme lent a hand by keeping watch over the building site in the evenings.

In keeping with Peruvian custom, on Friday 14th of March when the roof was just finished, a ‘Techada’ (or ‘roof-party’) was held to celebrate the occasion. As the final layers of cement dried in the sun, workers, sponsors and SKIP volunteers gathered to share a few beers and eat a special dish of Cabrito. This dish, consisting of lamb, yuca, rice and beans, was prepared by Doña Vicky and a group of mothers from the programme and the neighbourhood.

In the time honoured fashion, flowers and a bottle of champagne were hung from the roof. SKIP director Bee and Mayor Idelson added the final ceremonial touch to proceedings by breaking the bottle for good luck.

We anticipate the three new classrooms will be ready for action by the end of May. They will be used for teaching,workshops and activities and will enable SKIP to provide a safe and comfortable place of learning for many more children from Porvenir. As a temporary measure, the existing wooden structures will be moved on top of the new building, giving us a total of seven functioning classrooms for the time being.

The Start of the New School Year

2008-03-10T09:20:00.000-07:00

The new school year officially began on the 3rd of March, but in reality, things took a little while longer to get started. Thanks to general organisational problems in the schools and many other complicating factors, school began in earnest for most teachers and pupils one to two weeks later.

In the meantime SKIP was busy purchasing and distributing school uniforms, shoes and materials to upwards of 245 children enrolled in the programme. With the different requirements of the kids and some inevitable problems involving suppliers, this proved to be quite a challenge. All the new uniforms and shoes were made by local workers and some old uniforms have been either swapped or re-sold.

Next year we will help set up workshops for groups of mothers to make and sell school uniforms themselves as we did in 2005 and 2006.

In Peru, education is still not properly funded by the state. Families have to pay directly for things such as registration, basic classroom materials, electricity and security. Many people simply cannot afford the cost. To make matters worse the system is open to abuse. It is not uncommon for children and their families to be asked to pay for expensive and unnecessary items. For this reason SKIP has provided the children this year with the materials we believe are essential for school life and learning.

We have also been working alongside parents to help them with the registration process, paying school fees directly when necessary or negotiating reductions on their behalf. A recent change in government policy has meant that school fees (including teachers’ wages and school infrastructure) should technically be paid for by the State, but there has been some inconsistency in its implementation so far.

In the weeks since the beginning of term, SKIP workers have been meeting with parents and paying regular visits to the schools to ensure that the children have everything they need for a smooth start to the year ahead. We will continue to make regular visits to monitor the progress of our pupils and try to facilitate better relations between parents, teaching staff and children.

We would like to extend our thanks to all our donors and sponsors whose support makes our work here possible. And especially, we would like to express our gratitude to all the people in Ireland who sponsored our volunteer Joseph McCullagh.

“Pasacalle”: International Women’s Day in Trujillo

2008-03-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

Every year international women’s day is held on the 8^th March. It is an opportunity to celebrate past achievements and highlight the continuing global struggle for women’s rights and equality.

This year in Trujillo various groups and individuals took part in the occasion by joining together for a demonstration that led through the centre of the city. Sixty mothers from the SKIP programme, along with many children and volunteers marched on behalf of SKIP. Thanks to the “Libertad” bus company a free bus service was arranged to pick up the mothers and children from the SKIP office in the morning and take them to the Plaza de Armas (the city’s main square) where thousands gathered for the demonstration.

It was an exciting occasion, as many of the children and mothers very rarely get a chance to visit the city centre, especially with such a festival spirit in the air. The many different political and social groups in attendance joined together to protest against the culture of ‘machismo’ and sexual discrimination that are still prevalent forces in Peruvian society. There was live music and clowns for entertainment and after the demonstration a speech underlining the political importance of the day was given by a representative of the MINDES (Women and Social development Minister)

Having fun during the summer !!

2008-02-22T09:22:00.000-08:00

During the long summer holiday, which runs between January and early March, SKIP organised a seven week summer-school programme that involved amongst other things, traditional dance, drama, music, football and English classes. All manner of workshops were available the children to try their hands at. They could each chose between 2 and 3 workshops, with three hours of lessons a week per workshop. Professional coaches in dance and football came to work with the children and Joseph McCullagh, our volunteer from Ireland, ran a very successful English class, which saw the emergence of one or two very promising linguists.

A party was held on the last Friday of February, to mark the end of the holidays and an enjoyable summer school programme. The location was a recreational complex not too far away from the SKIP office in Rio Seco. It was a chance for the children to exhibit some of the new talents they had learnt over the past seven weeks. There was a display of art works, a dramatic performance, some short speeches in English and a volleyball competition. This was followed by a sack race for volunteers, in which Joshua Allsup - a Peace Corps volunteer, who has been volunteering with us for the last two years - won a hard earnest first place for America. Afterwards the children played and swam in the pool or chilled out in the shade, and fun team building activities were organised for the mothers.

Thank you Micky !

2008-01-20T07:38:00.000-08:00

On the 18th January Micky Bride successfully completed the Dubai Marathon raising £953 for SKIP.

In the heat of Dubai he completed the 26 mile course in just 4hrs 24 minutes.

On behalf of everybody at SKIP we would like to say a big thank you to Micky and his colleagues at Worlds Apart Travel in Cheltenham who have provided great support to SKIP in the last two years.

Micky Bride marathons for SKIP in Dubai

2008-01-10T19:29:00.000-08:00

On January 18, 2008 Micky Bride will be running the Dubai Marathon to raise funds for SKIP. Micky works for Worlds Apart Travel with whom SKIP have forged a good relationship over the past two years. He will brave the heat to complete the extremely challenging 26+ miles. If you would like to sponsor Micky and thus help SKIP, please visit www.justgiving.com/mickybride.

Good luck Micky from all at SKIP!

Christmas with SKIP !!!

2007-12-16T09:09:00.000-08:00

As part of last year’s Christmas celebrations, on December 15^th SKIP organised a traditional Peruvian Christmas Party called “Chocolatada” for the families and children of the programme as well as children of the neighbourhood. More than 550 people were awaited.

The children took part in a nativity play and the singing of carols. Afterwards delicious hot chocolate and pantones were enjoyed by everyone. University students (UNT) helped organise festive games, a clown and a magician were there to bring a touch of wonder and amusement to the evening, and a dance group made up of teenagers from the district, added something extraordinary, with the performance of a traditional dance.

Thanks to generous donations from SKIP sponsor, Wilbor Oliveros Cerna, as well as all our local and international sponsors, friends and donors, each family left the party with a bag full of Christmas presents for the kids, sweets and a big panetone. It was a truly memorable festive celebration.

Paseo to Simbal: Fun and community-building with SKIP families

2007-08-15T18:50:00.000-07:00

In celebration of the end of the first semester and Peru's Independence Day, SKIP families and volunteers took a well-earned day of rest and went on an outing to Simbal, a small town near Trujillo. For the families, this presented a rare opportunity to travel outside El Porvenir and a much anticipated day of relaxation, since most schools had canceled the scheduled winter holiday in August in order to make up classes after the teachers’ strike in July.

2007-08-15T18:42:00.000-07:00

Education in the News

2007-07-21T18:42:00.000-07:00

Strike ends in late July (Strike Ends as Teachers and Gov't Sit Down to Talks, IPS)

Peruvian Government to Purchase 250,000 Laptops for Students (One Laptop Per Child News, OLPC & Buy a Laptop, Get Another Laptop Free, New York Times)

Peru builds safer schools after earthquake (New Schools in Pisco to be a Model for Schools in Peru, Living In Peru)

Privatization of Education a Growing Trend (Government Failure in Peru, Wall Street Journal)

Three summits in 24 hours for SKIP

2007-05-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

On May 5 and 6, eight very willing walkers succeeded in climbing the three highest peaks in Great Britain (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Mount Snowdon) within 24 hours. Teamlife walked approximately 25 miles, ascended roughly 10,000 ft, and drove 450 plus miles all in a single day. To top it all off, they fought with strong winds and sustained rain, but it was worth it as they managed to raise more than £3500 for SKIP!

To know more about the Teamlife 3 Peaks Challenge, log on to www.justgiving.com/teamlife.