Monday 23 July 2012

Volunteering just as HOOP kicks off


I’m kind of proud to say “I was there at the very beginning”; when HOOP started, I saw all the hard work that Priya, Julia, Teresa, Li and Carmen had put into this incredible project and how determined they were to set up something sustainable that could really help the Flora Tristan community and I was so proud to be a part of that, so much so I really didn’t want to leave, unfortunately a flight and job commitments forced me to!

I first arrived in Arequipa after 3 and a half months of travelling all over the South American continent slightly exhausted and in real need of food that wasn’t Bolivian; there is only so much overcooked trout a person can eat. It was such a relief to be in a real house again and to be able to unpack my bag for the first time in months (only a few dead bugs in there).

I was told I was going to be teaching class four, the tinies who loved to sing and play. Perfect for me as singing and playing are right up my street! I had no idea really what to expect. Used to the gringo haunts of well known traveller routes and the comparative wealth of the southern countries (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay etc) it was a shock when I got on the tiniest bus in the world packed full of smells, skirts and sweaty men. After ten minutes of standing in a bus that no one over 5’5 could fit in I asked Julia how much further there was to go “oh about 40 minutes from here” was the response. I guess that’s when I realised how far from the city the communities spread and I could start to gauge what the situation was like at Flora Tristan.

When we eventually arrived at the school, more shock, I don’t know how I’d imagined it but it seemed both the same and different. It’s hard to explain. What I do know is that through the time I worked there I learnt to love the school itself. Its colourful walls and pretty pictures, the pictures the class drew that we stuck up on the walls. Both the children and I were proud of our work and it was lovely to see it there every day; evidence of the fun we’d had and the things we learnt.

Class four was the perfect class for me. When I first arrived there would be different students every day, arriving at different times and ranging in size from 20 plus students a day to five or eight. By the end of my time teaching we’d achieved a certain level of regularity, students arrived (more or less) on time and we even got to move to a bigger classroom so we could all fit in.

When I started discipline was a big issue; when you have teachers coming and going it’s difficult to establish fixed rules and a respectful relationship between pupils and teachers. It’s one of the things HOOP is really working on and I think they are taking huge steps in the right direction! We worked hard on our classroom rules and gradually the class became used to me and my ways! I know that attendance, discipline, recruiting for  long term volunteers, working with professional teachers, and implementing strong evaluation methods are all solid objectives for HOOP in making the school better and better. 

During my time at HOOP Teresa and Veronica along with Teresa’s cousin worked really hard on updating and renewing the curriculum so it was age specific and more relevant to the children. The new curriculum for class four is brilliant and so much fun. With the prospect of Dinosaurs and Pirates lesson planning is more fun than a chore. We also re-evaluated our classes and moved our best students up a level; this meant the classes were much easier to teach (mainly for me I think as I now had a much more manageable class size!).

I won’t ever forget my lovely class and their bright smiles; sneaky ways of making me give them the nice pencils to colour in with and their incredible interest in some of the oddest things. (I was frequently asked if it snowed in “my country”).  There will always be bad days, days when you can’t control the class or when someone is misbehaving and distracting others but they are always overshadowed by those bright days, when you all stand up and sing “I’m being eaten by a Boa Constrictor” at the top of your lungs, complete with actions and a sea of bodies on the floor pretending to be eaten by a giant snake.

I loved my time at HOOP so much I stayed until I physically had to leave (even if it meant 80 hours solid bus travel and a few flights to get to my flight home on time!). The HOOPers were brilliant and we had many a fun time in our favourite haunts (Wild Rover, Déjà Vu...). There were some great meals together (Teresa’s family’s Strudel was amazing) and many a youtube session of appallingly great songs from the 90’s as well as some of our reggaeton favourites.  And I have to mention Mister Fish because all HOOPers must visit at least once – after Flora Tristan School it’s the best place ever! If you ever feel like you want to travel to Peru/South America and want to work for something real, that aims to help and develop an impoverished community I can do nothing better than recommend HOOP. I was there when it started and I know their goals and how committed they are. The HOOP team have given so much to getting this organisation going and going in the right direction. I also know how hard it is to find an organisation you can trust and you can most definitely trust HOOP. Its run from Arequipa by a team that are there present and aware of everything going on, a team who are dedicated to their project; it’s incredible and I am so happy and proud to have been and continue to be a part of it.

HOOP out!
Lucy James 

Flora Tristan English School 2011 - Ella looks back


On a very wet afternoon in late January last year, I climbed aboard a little yellow van/bus with a few other volunteer teachers and set off to Flora Tristan English School for the first time. I had been told that for most of the year, Arequipa enjoys beautiful weather and offers great views of the surrounding volcanos. However, as I had only been in Arequipa for a few days, and those during the rainy season, I would have to take their word for it. It certainly seemed hard to beleive as we bumped along the potholed road and watched the rain lashing down outside. After a while, at the instruction of a more experienced volunteer, I pushed my way past a few old women, over the sacks of potatoes that they had brought along with them, and off the bus. We had reached Flora Tristan.

My first impression as we started to make our way towards the school was that the surroundings exactly matched the colour of the rain-filled sky; everything was grey. The dusty dirt road was grey, the little cuboid houses with their corrugated roofs were grey, the dogs that roamed the streets were grey (and even if they weren't really, the grey dust that seems to settle everywhere had made them look that way). But as we got further down the road, bright little faces started appearing round corners and in dodorways. 'Hola teachers!' they shouted to the volunteers that I was with. 'Hola new teacher!' they shouted to me. And then we arrived at the school - a similar size and shape to the other buildings around, but painted in lovely bright colours, and surrounded by children trying their hardest to get through the gates before school time officially started. I think I fell in love right there.

I spent the next couple of months with those beautiful, cheeky, ragged, cheerful children, teaching them what English I could. This was not always easy. When I first started they were divided into three classes, ostensibly by age, although a few younger ones had sneaked into class with their older siblings. There wasn't any kind of structured curriculum and it was difficult to know what they had been taught in the past, so in theory a new volunteer could be teaching the same thing as their teacher the week before. Together the volunteers set a test and tried to get them divided up by ability properly, which made a difference, but the lack of curriculum and continiuty meant that it was still difficult. When I left in March I felt that my class had made good progress, but had no way of knowing whether or not this would continue, or what they would learn next.

Unable to keep away for too long, I returned to Arequipa in November and found that some great progress had been made at Flora Tristan English school mostly due to the efforts of the then volunteer-co ordinator and one particularly dedicated volunteer who had been there for nearly a whole year (very unusual, most volunteers spend anywhere between 2 weeks and three months, but rarely this long). This had meant that there had been some continuity in what the children were learning and their behavioural expectations. When I left again in December, a thorough curriculum had been implemented for the whole year to come, which was a huge step - but still not enough and unfortunately the founders of the charitable organisation that was then responsible for the school were unwilling to pay for what was really needed - a permanent, paid staff to ensure that the community could benefit as much as possible from the resources that the school can offer.

Happily, however, HOOP was formed earlier this year and took over responsibility for FTES with the intention of truly developing the project. I believe that HOOP can really address these issues and create the kind of learning environment that will really benefit the children. They all deserve a little colour in their lives. 

Tuesday 17 July 2012

A small NGO in Peru - HOOP makes a start!

First and foremost, welcome to HOOP Peru's new blog!

For those of you who don't know, HOOP is a small NGO located in the beautiful city of Arequipa, Peru. We work with a deprived community called Flora Tristan on the outskirts of Arequipa.

We work with both local and international volunteers who lead and assist in our programmes depending on their skills, professional backgrounds and linguistic abilities. Our local volunteers lead programmes in psychology, social work and leadership workshops whereas our international volunteers lead our english programme, homework support, sports activities and excursions.

Every month on this blog, one of our fantastic volunteers will recount their experiences with HOOP and our inspiring students, the moments that shine, when things get tough and what they got out of the experience.

Learn about the difficulties and pleasures of managing a tiny NGO with a lot of determination, and the no holds barred experiences of our volunteers!

For more information, please see www.hoopperu.org  and our wonderful school blog www.floratristanenglishschool.com