Villa el Salvador (Peru)

We are very happy to announce that we will also have a new project as of 2015: The Kindergarten “Programa de Education Temprana” in Villa el Salvador (click here for a gallery). We were approached by a close friend of Marcela’s family who heard about a kindergarten which didn’t have a playground for more than 20 years and also lost its government support.

After our visit it was clear though, that the playground was a rather low priority given that the roof of the kindergarten had massive wholes and was simply laying on top of the walls of the rest of the building. The house has two big rooms which serve as classrooms (one for babies from 0 – 1 year and the other one for kids from 2-4 years. In the afternoon the older kids come in) and an adjacent bathroom. The problem with both facilities is though, that the classrooms do not have an adequate floor (just concrete) and the bathroom is in a very poor condition and needs urgent renovation. Also, toys are scarce goods. In total there are around 40 kids and babies attending the kindergarten.

Hence, we decided on the spot to jump in and help. However, we convinced the representatives of two things:

• The priorities look as follows: Roof, floor, bathroom, toys, playground
• The community has to be involved in the project as well

We agreed on using a quid-pro-quo approach. That means, that it is the community’s job to ensure the security of the kindergarten area by installing a fence. In return we build the roof and the floor. The community cleans up the area of the future playground and Jayma Kunan builds one Everyone is very happy with the arrangement and the planning phase for the roof has already begun. It is our goal to have the roof, the floor, the bathroom and the playground finished within the next 12 months. Also we want to provide new toys by obtaining in-kind donations locally in Peru.