Surfing classes for SKIP kids

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

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.