Corazones para Peru Provides Helps Children
Herzen für eine neue Welt (Hearts for a New World) was founded in Konigstein, Germany in 1998. Their project, Corazones para Peru, works to improve living conditions for children and families in the Peruvian Andes’ Chicon Valley near Cusco. In the past 17 years, Corazones para Peru has established a children’s village, multiple schools and two health centers.
The children’s village, located in Munaycha, Peru, has become home to over 80 orphaned or abandoned children. The village features a healthcare system, schools and a bridge program for college students in need of a place to live. The health facilities service over 400 people a month providing them with immediate healthcare, vaccinations and pharmaceutics.
Volunteers for Corazones para Peru have built 13 schools, allowing 1,000 children to receive an education. Along with these schools, members of the organization established kindergartens to prepare 50 children a year for school.
The village is supplied by an organic agricultural center, and volunteers have planted over 20,000 trees to prevent soil erosion and contribute to the economy of the village. It also features two psychologists, a social assistant, a pedagogue and three trained cooks to help raise the children physically and mentally apt to grow up to be healthy and well adults. Seven live-in dormitory matrons and 16 trained volunteers also contribute to the village staff.
Schools built in the village are equipped with jungle gyms, gymnasiums and recreational centers and all follow Corazones para Peru’s meal program. Many times, children have to walk many miles to reach schools just to spend the whole day learning on an empty stomach. The meal program eradicates this issue by supplying schools with meals for students. Throughout the last couple of years, Corazones para Peru has invested two million dollars to supply schools with basic educational materials like blackboards, books and pencils.
German volunteers teach English, physical education and extracurricular classes to students in the village. In addition, they teach them valuable skills like teamwork and tolerance and provide them with financial and personnel support.
Corazones para Peru’s project, Learning with Heart, strives to help children, especially young girls, receive an education. In Peru, completion of secondary school is a requirement for apprenticeships and attending universities. Many residents miss their chance of receiving an education because the school is too expensive or the family experiences a great financial loss from the loss of labor. Learning with Heart supports families with monthly funds so their children can attend school and become who they want to be.
Hearts for a New World plans to continue working in Peru for many years with the goal of rounding out future generations of Peruvians to create a better living environment and community for Peru’s residents.
– Julia Hettiger
Sources: Herzen Helfen, Shoulder To Shoulder, Matador Network
Photo: Flickr