What is VivePerú?
This summer, I had the privilege to volunteer for VivePerú via a generous summer internship grant provided by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at Notre Dame. VivePerú is a non-profit organization established by Notre Dame alum Rachel Jurkowski de Ganoza in 2011 that serves three communities in northern Peru. From the organization's website, the VivePerú team identifies its mission as "promoting cultural understanding and implementing innovative and self-sustainable programs in the areas of health, education, social work, and engineering." The importance of maintaining a relationship with the communities it serves through partnerships with local institutions was initially one of the most attractive qualities about the organization that piqued my interest, as well as its emphasis on creating long-term impact with its projects. This has been validated through the various medical campaigns that take place throughout the year at each of the sites, the installation of Internet in rural communities, and in parasite intervention campaigns in the poorest neighborhoods of Trujillo, where the organization is based. The organization is still young, and its directors and network of alumni volunteers are very optimistic about the impact it will have on Peruvian communities in the future.
Who Are VivePerú Volunteers?
The program relies on its network of volunteers to perform many of the services VivePerú provides for its Peruvian communities. Historically, the volunteer demographic primarily has been made up of college students from across the U.S., although individuals young and old are welcome to participate. Volunteers can choose to spend anywhere from 3 weeks to an entire semester in Peru, depending on the volunteer's availability and willingness to commit to life in Peru. The most popular and sought-after program takes place during the summer, when college students have free time to dedicate to service or development work abroad. Volunteers can choose from either the 5 week or 10 week program, the only difference being that the 10 week replicates what is accomplished in the 5 week program.
There are 6 programs that volunteers can apply to, including Clinical Medicine, Teaching English, Teaching Music, Social Work, and Engineering, in which they spend their time working for Peruvian partner institutions in their respective fields. In my program, Clinical Medicine, I spent my days shadowing doctors and learning medical skills while on rotation with a doctor at the hospital, as well as designing once-a-week public health curricula for an elementary school class in my town. We spent the weekdays in the hospital and clinics, and on weekends we were encouraged to travel to other cities around the country, to absorb the rich cultural diversity that Peru has to offer.
What is Being a Volunteer Like?
Volunteers also have the opportunity to choose where in Peru they'd like to work, as VivePerú has projects at three sites: Trujillo, Pacasmayo, and Otuzco. All volunteers stay with a Peruvian host family during their stay, and often call at least one, if not more, fellow VivePerú volunteers their roommates. Volunteers form strong relationships with their Peruvian-American host families during their stay, and many volunteers cite this aspect of the VivePerú experience as the most memorable and enjoyable. I can absolutely say that I agree, and I am so grateful to have been placed with my familia otuzcana when I was in Peru.
One of the highlights of the summer program is the medical campaign that all sites organize near the end of each month. Clinical Medicine volunteers are the most involved with the campaigns, as they spend the majority of the first 3-4 weeks of the program learning skills that they can apply during the campaigns, like Spanish medical terminology and how to perform basic medical tasks, i.e. taking blood pressure, measuring height/weight. VivePerú enlists the help of Peruvian doctors from their respective communities to provide free medical visits for the day, and the organization also purchases medicines to distribute at the campaign using monetary donations from volunteers themselves. Thus, volunteers feel they can contribute meaningfully to the community while gaining priceless experience in clinics and learning medical skills, while free health care is brought to entire rural and underserved communities.