Stoves and teaching at altitude in Perú

After a few weeks away, due to Swine Flu "prevention", GVI Phoenix's childcare project has been back in Chivay since August. Canocota, a traditional mud brick community, at 3600m, less than an hour away from Chivay, has welcomed the new volunteers with open arms.

The kids there are fantastic fun, willing to learn and very receptive to the volunteers, although we do have our work cut out trying to encourage the girls and boys to play together and trying to get the girls to play something other than volleyball and the boys something other than football at PE every week!

We have also kick-started stove-building in Canocota, with 3 stoves nearly completed and another 2 in the pipeline. Both the President of the community and the school director have expressed appreciation for the work that GVI does, hopefully this cooperation will grow from strenth to strength.

Further out from Chivay, the community of Ampi nestles at over 4600m, amid some beautiful landscapes, where the locals rear alpacas for wool and meat.

Ampi is challenging because the kids are very timid and have fallen behind in their education but this presents a great opportunity for GVI volunteers to help get them up to speed in core subjects like maths and Spanish language.

Stoves and teaching at altitude in Perú