Outreach Peru, in nurturing hope and faith for a better life, promotes projects in nutrition, health, education and sustainable development, supports the life of the Church, and provides aid to vulnerable people.

The joys and the hopes, the sorrows and the anxieties of the people of Peru inspire Worth Abbey’s Outreach Peru. Together with our partners, Outreach Peru is working towards a society where poverty is ended so that the physical, social and spiritual well-being of the people of Peru is assured.

Outreach Peru is the development fund of Worth Abbey for Peru. Worth Abbey is a Benedictine community near London Gatwick Airport. The Benedictine monks of Worth Abbey have worked in Peru since 1968. Though the monks are no longer resident in Peru, Outreach Peru continues that work. Worth monks have extensive local knowledge as well as excellent relationships with the Church and those local organisations who use money wisely. Central to the work is listening to Peruvians speaking for themselves. Outreach Peru funds projects that involve Peruvians in the design and practical applications of their own solutions.

At Outreach Peru, we see first hand that the International Monetary Fund classification of Peru as a middle income country means that people in poverty are often being excluded from international measures to reduce poverty. The British Government closed its aid operation there in 2005. Yet, over half the population in Peru are living in poverty, which means they do not even have enough money to fill a family food basket and nearly a quarter are in a struggle for daily existence. 14 million Peruvians are in danger of being forgotten by the international community.

Outreach Peru supports well-targeted projects in nutrition, health, education and the development of sustainable livelihoods that experience shows really do help people out of poverty. We know that the presence of women at the heart of development strategies is a vital part of long term sustainability. The Church is one of Peru’s most reliable organisations. By nurturing moral and spiritual formation, especially of young Peruvians, Outreach Peru is developing Peru’s greatest resource, its people.

There are global dimensions to all poverty reduction projects. Outreach Peru supports co-ordinated UK advocacy related to its projects.

Peru is one of the larger countries in South America (five times bigger than the UK) with a wealth of natural resources. The population is approximately 31.8 million (2016). There is a huge disproportion between rural, peasant and indigenous communities. Just under half the rural population live in poverty. The business language is Spanish, but many people speak Quechua or Aymara.

In the areas in which we work…

• Many struggle daily to have enough to eat, they do not have adequate shelter, they have limited access to fresh water and often there is no sewage system.
• Women are still dying in childbirth.
• Children under 5 are dying due to malnutrition.
• Children are not safe and some are being exploited and abused.
• People cannot gain access to professional doctors and medical supplies.
• Many families do not have the skills to keep themselves healthy.
• Families are struggling to grow basic subsistence crops.
• Children, especially in rural areas, are often deprived of good quality schooling. Instead, girls in particular are looking after livestock, caring for siblings and helping their mother in the house.

The Church is often the only institution that they trust.

These webpages are in the process of being developed