What a year! Here are our top seven highlights of 2014

What a year! Here are our seven biggest achievements of 2014

It’s been a huge year for HOOP. From little wins to big achievements, our supporters, volunteers, parents and students helped HOOP grow more than ever in 2014. Here are our top seven highlights:

1. We taught more kids than ever

This year, we taught an astonishing 6,720 hours of English to children in the Flora Tristan community. We were also able to teach our biggest intake of students to date, with 83 kids attending classes this year.

2. Parents got business-savvy

For the first time, we were able to offer parents a new course in business skills in collaboration with Thunderbird University in the US. The four month course gave parents the skills and knowledge they needed to develop their own business plans.

3. HOOP mums asked for English lessons, so we delivered

In 2014, HOOP mums got jealous of their kids’ English classes. So when they asked us to provide a class for them, we were delighted to oblige. Over the year, we taught 20 mothers from the community a total of 1,440 hours of English. We look forward to teaching more parents more English in 2015.

4. A third HOOP student was awarded scholarships to attend a private school

We were really excited to secure another scholarship for one of our brightest students, Daniel, to attend Vencedor Secondary School in Arequipa, thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Kondos family. 2014 was also the year we congratulated our first scholarship student, Elizabeth, for graduating from secondary school.

5. Our volunteer network grew by 24%

We welcomed 72 volunteers in 2014, from 17 different countries, including new representation from Scotland, Brazil, Poland and Paraguay!

6. We helped keep our kids healthy

Through HOOP’s collaboration with Dentists Without Borders, 329 dental procedures took place for 240 people. We also organised 63 general health check-ups, and psychology workshops for parents. Following the HOOP Health Report, we also responded to parents’ concerns about nutrition and hygiene with special health education workshops throughout the year.

7. The first ever parents’ board was voted in

2014 ended on an exciting note for the future, with the election of the new HOOP parents’ board of directors. This will mean the parents will be more involved than ever in how HOOP can help the Flora Tristan community.

We set a good benchmark for ourselves in 2014, and with your help we want to make 2015 even bigger. And we’re going to start big, by building a whole new school in the New Year! With all this progress, it’s an exciting time to be at HOOP - to find out how you can help, email us at volunteer@hoopperu.org.

Written by Tom Hornbrook 
@InTomsHead

It’s Christmas! (Peru style)

The festive season is well and truly upon us in Arequipa, with locals busily snapping their photo beside the huge Christmas tree in Plaza de Armas, and shopkeepers adorning their stores with garlands. All we need now is a freak snowfall and the scene will be complete (but don’t hold your breath for a white Christmas, with temperatures pushing 24C!).

So it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but beneath the tinsel and Santa Claus pictures, how exactly do Peruvians celebrate the holidays? I spoke to HOOPsters Carlos and Evaldo to find out.

“In Peru, we celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December, known as ‘Nocha Buena’ or ‘Good Night’”, Carlos explained, “when all the family comes together for a meal in the evening. We then spend time together until 12 o’clock, when some people will go to a midnight service at their local church.

“In Arequipa, we really love fireworks, and at midnight the sky lights up with fireworks all around the city. This is something you won’t see in most other parts of Peru, where fireworks cannot be sold. After fireworks it’s time to give and open presents, before bed.”

Evaldo added, “In my family we have a turkey salad and potatoes for Christmas dinner. At midnight we celebrate the birth of Jesus and share hot chocolate and eat panatone - a traditional cake filled with fruit. The next morning some of the family goes to church and the rest prepares for a big family lunch with all my cousins, uncles and grandparents.”

At HOOP, we’ve been trying to make sure no one gets left out of the festivities. We just had our annual Christmas party for the kids and parents of the school, with games, food, gifts and an appearance from Papá Noel himself. You can see more photos from the day on our Facebook or Flickr page.

The kids have also been busy at school preparing to sing Christmas songs and creating decorations for the end of year assembly. Check out our Christmas video for a snapshot of the festivities.

However the holidays are celebrated in your part of the world, from everyone at HOOP,

¡Feliz Navidad!

Written by Tom Hornbrook 

@InTomsHead

Working for an Organization with a purpose

For many people the words non-profit or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are a bit of a mystery. What do those words actually mean, what do NGOs do and what is it like to work for such an organization? This is exactly what we will try and answer with today's blog post.

An NGO is the term commonly used for an organization that is neither a part of a government nor a conventional business that operates on a profit generating basis. NGOs are usually set up by ordinary citizens, and could be funded by governments, foundations, businesses, or private individuals. The funding NGOs receive will not benefit the organization though, but the beneficiaries it is working with. That's why it called non-profit. NGOs are highly diverse groups of organizations engaged in a wide range of activities, from fighting human rights issues, to providing education, medical treatment or disaster relief efforts.

It will definitely be no waste of time working or volunteering with an NGO. When you decide to work with an organization of that kind, you already know that you would like to contribute to the social good and try and do your bit. Your values will probably match those of the organization, which means you will work with a lot more energy and integrity.

Your commitment will almost definitely be shared by your co-workers and the so the work environment can be very rewarding. The atmosphere in a purposeful organization creates the feeling of achieving something bigger, and what could be better than that?

Written and photos by Charlette Voss

How to be a great volunteer

Without the ambitious and caring HOOP volunteers from all over the globe, HOOP could not fullfill its vision and dream of breaking the cycle of poverty in the community of Flora Tristan through education. The 5th of December marks International Volunteer Day and to celebrate this special day and our volunteers, we will dedicate the whole of December to the topic of volunteering. Today's blog post is about how to be a great volunteer.

1. Be open-minded and flexible

A lot of our volunteers are very good at planning and scheduling, because this is what they are used to from their home country. However, living in a developing country often means that local cultures, infrastructure and timekeeping can be very different to what you are used to, so plans can often change from one minute to the next. In such moments great volunteers will remain calm and show flexibility. There is often no point in being angry or disappointed about those things, so you will have to make the best out of the situation. An open mind is one of the best characteristics a volunteer can have.

2. Be committed
Being a volunteer can use up a lot of energy. For example during the day you may help with the projects and at night there might be a fundraising party, you would like to discover your new home town, or just hang out with all the other HOOP volunteers. The day of a volunteer can be very long and tiring. Volunteering is certainly not a walk in the park and you shouldn't start your placement thinking it will be. It requires just as much dedication and energy as any other job does.

3. Be curious

In a new country or even a different continent it is always fun to discover new things. As a volunteer it is therefore almost impossible to not bring a huge load of curiosity, because that is the secret ingredient to bring new ideas to a developing country. It is just how Bernard Baruch once said: "Curiosity! Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton asked why."

4. Be imaginative

Do you remember your favourite teacher? It was probably one with a wild imagination and a better way to teach the subject to you than all the other teachers ever could. It is always amusing and fun to listen to and be around someone who can see things from a different angle and who is not scared to do something crazy. So if you are going to start a teaching volunteer position, try and use all of your imagination and creativity in the classroom, and you will probably find that the kids will give you all of their attention in return.

5. Be selfless

As Ronald Reagan once said: "We can´t help everyone, but everyone can help someone." As a volunteer you will probably want to travel and see as much of your new home as possible. However, you should also remember that you have committed your time to a certain cause, so the priority of each volunteer should always be the passion for the project and its vision. It goes without saying that we love the selflessness of our HOOP volunteers. They are sacrificing their energy and time without expecting anything in return. Our volunteers are happy with the rewarding work they are doing every day, and for that we and the families they work with will be forever grateful.

Written and photo by Charlette Voss