Colegio Alto Peru
Watch the 2007 Volunteer Program Video
Lima has long been accustomed to migrations from the Andean anterior. In its most recent form, however, migration and the inexorable demands of industry on Lima's peripheries have resulted in a situation whereby child labor is ubiquitous, standards of living and sanitation are abysmal, and the average family is forced to adopt a life suited to refugees.
The site of our most recent project, Alto Perú, is one of the poorest districts of the shanty town conglomerates collectively known as "Los Conos,” the cone-shaped barrios that delimit Lima's northern, southern, and eastern borders. Although extreme poverty is a problem in most cono neighborhoods, Alto Perú, which additionally suffers the direct burdens of industrial contamination, is by many estimates one of the gravest cases.
After visiting Alto Perú in 2005, SOLAC assembled a team of anthropologists and public health officials to survey the population, in order to research possible solutions to the community's socio-economic problems. The conclusions of our research were predictable, but nevertheless startling. Poor living conditions and significant environmental problems have harmed the development of local children in both tangible and intangible ways.
Poor labor conditions have detracted from the academic performance of children, as parents are rarely available to help them with their schoolwork, and the children struggle to apply themselves intellectually in the midst of adverse living conditions. SOLAC is dedicated to ameliorating some of these problems with the creation of an education center and library where the health and educational development of Alto Perú’s youth, so severely damaged by the area's poor living conditions, can be can be resuscitated and reinvigorated.
The principal beneficiaries of the program are the 180 students of the Alto Perú primary school, with the adjacent communities enjoying the benefits of the center through related initiatives. When fully completed, the center will host four principal services:
a. A comprehensive library with volumes for all academic levels, complete with a computer lab and internet access.
b. Academic workshops that both compliment and extend the curriculum of the Alto Perú School. This includes remedial attention for students with outstanding needs, special programs for intellectual development, after-school tutoring, and English language classes.
c. A wide range of health and wellness campaigns that target both household and environmental issues facing the community, carried out in conjunction with local medical authorities and NGOs.
d. Counseling and psychological support for students who show signs of chronic depression, in a community where 1 in 7 children has contemplated suicide.
In May of 2006, the construction and implementation of the Center commenced with the help of over 20 international and local volunteers. We have worked continually alongside the community to create sustainable solutions for the project, including the training of tutors and long-term collaborations with local and international universities. We cannot thank our volunteers enough for the dedication they have shown to the school and the community. Since the inception of the project, SOLAC has worked with over 50 volunteers from the United States, Mexico, Peru, and Europe. Without their constant support, this project could never have succeeded.
Despite numerous delays and setbacks, including a couple of fundamental redesigns, the construction was completed late in 2007, thanks in large part to a coalition formed with CESIP, a Peruvian NGO, and Telefónica del Perú, a telecommunications company that provided funding and internet access.