Worth Abbey Outreach Peru - What We do
Our Projects
Outreach Peru works with trusted partners in Peru on practical projects that make a real difference to local communities.
In 2022, Outreach Peru is supporting seven projects of which here are two.
1. HIV-AIDS orphanage in Huancayo
Sustaining Casita de Acogida San Juan Diego through the COVID-19 pandemic
The "Home of Welcome Saint Juan Diego" houses 20 children from two to eleven, living with HIV AIDS, Without other family members and requiring special care and attention. Between January and March 2021, a legacy from a supporter provided emergency support to the Home to enable it to continue functioning. The Home’s usual donors were being asked to support fundraising elsewhere for the effects of the pandemic, such as oxygen cylinders and PPE for the local hospital.
A second project is to enable the children of the Home to complete successfully the school year online this year, and to leave a legacy of permanent adequate learning facilities within the Home. With only one old computer to use across their age range, daily work could only be completed well into the evening.
Two new classrooms are being constructed and divided in two, two existing rooms are similarly divided, creating eight School grade sections with computers, printers and learning support materials. Internet access is being upgraded.
Part of the patio is being roofed over as a rest and recreation area in the hot Sierra sun and the frequent Huancayo rains. In future, the children will be able to do their homework, print and find information on the internet to support their learning, enabling them to participate actively in their education.
Huancayo in the Highlands of Peru adjoins Ayacucho by about 10- 15 hours. We have temporarily suspended our support for the Ayacucho Children's Home.
2. Fe y Alegria ("Faith and Joy") schools provide quality education
Creating new futures out of poverty for girls and boys
Outreach Peru works with Fe y Alegria, which provides schooling in the poorest and most marginalised parts of Peru, both rural and urban. Each year we fund a different school or network depending on the necessities. For instance, for seven years we contributed significantly to the construction of a new school in Tarma in the Highlands of Peru starting from a grassy slope on a hillside to a fully functioning secondary school
In 2021, we are supporting nine Kindergarten schools in marginal areas in Lima and the Sierras (Highlands). What experience shows is that the foundations of good learning need to be laid at the kindergarten stage. There are two objectives in this project: to improve the quality of the teachers and to accompany them, and to improve the physical learning environments.
Father Alex asked Señorita Victoria Geldres, the Principal of a Lima primary school on the edges of our former parish of San Benito, Lima, what the school was hoping to achieve:
“The children are at the heart of the school’s philosophy and we try to develop them as whole people. We succeed well here and the children get a quality education because our approach is for the children, parents and the teachers to work together, talking about family relationships, parenting and sharing values. We feed the children well; they can only learn when they are not hungry. We encourage girls to come here and work with the children about their national identity and their roots. We see that as important to developing their self esteem.”
Father Alex asked Señor Maximo Ventura, a father of five children, what his hopes were for his children at the school:
“I want to give the best to my children; the only inheritance I can leave them is education. I can only get so far. With this education maybe they can get further. I work for them.”
