In July 2012 Otra Cosa Network initiated a new program that sets out to empower women in a shanty town called Cerrito de la Virgen. The town is located in the hills on the outskirts of Huanchaco town, in an area not visible from Huanchaco itself. Most of its inhabitants come from the ENSO phenomenon (El Niño Southern Oscillation), a natural climatic occurrence that caused excessive rainfalls in 1997-1998 and resulted in US$ 3.5 billion economic losses in Peru. The Peruvian government didn't have the capacity to cope with the resulting housing crisis that left millions of Peruvian families homeless. In La Libertad region, authorities located some of the ENSO victims on the very arid land of Cerrito de la Virgen. These people had no choice and were made no promises by the government, there was not even any electricity or water available for the new inhabitants. They just got there and had to start making their lives again.
The HELP Women program tries to help women in a variety of aspects of their life which makes for many interesting volunteer opportunities.
The help women program offers different skills classes to the women which gives them the opportunity of selling their skills and get an income for the household. None of the women we work with at the moment have jobs and are therefore very eager to learn. To give the women a better chance of succeeding in earning money, we want to offer them classes in basic business and marketing. The women in Peru are often unaware of their rights, live with domestic violence and many girls get pregnant at a very young age – this is no different in Cerrito de la Virgen. Education in their basic rights and sexual education is therefore also needed.
The majority of the women have either no education or have only finished the first few years of school, and there are therefore also a need for classes in reading/writing, math and English.
Working hours
At the moment the program only runs once a week, but we want to extent this program to include all the education above and thereby have better opportunities to empower the women in Cerrito. Depending on the skills of the intern and the amount of classes you are able to teach, the classes can be taught one to three times a week – during the afternoon when the older kids can look after the small kids.
Internship roles
- Being the project manager
- Teaching women to sew
- Teaching basic marketing and business
- Teaching math
- Teaching/writing
- Teaching English
- Giving classes in women's rights/sexual education/domestic violence/hygiene/nutrition etc.
If you have any other skills you can teach the women or have other ideas that can tribute to this program – this is the internship position for you.
Intern Requirements
- Age 21+
- High Spanish level. We can arrange classes for your arrival if you need/want to boost your level.
- Minimum commitment: 4 weeks - the longer, the better.
- As this is a women empowering program we only accept female interns.
- Background in business/marketing, and or women's rights/social studies etc.
- Mature, empathetic, enthusiastic.
Application Process
Please visit our website to apply: http://otracosa.org/apply-now.html
For further information about the program, please visit: http://otracosa.org/volunteering-peru/types-of-volunteer-roles/community-development.html
