English Teaching in Porvenir

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

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”

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

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.