In 2008, Apus Peru Adventure Travel Specialists are pleased to announce that they will be working with the RUFADA (Rural Family Development Association of the Sacred Valley) to offer a range of volunteer projects.

Already two NGOs work in the urban Urubamba area, where there are a range of needy people. However, RUFADA and Apus Peru wanted to focus on the neediest people - often those who fall outside of the more central areas. It is felt that the lack in diet, health, education and infrastructure for high Andean peoples can be addressed in small ways via a volunteer project.

In these projects, the volunteer's payment includes their food, lodging and advice from a volunteer coordinator - however, it also stimulates and supports the "mini projects". The volunteer payment will pay for an Andean expert in this field who will develop and coordinate the project. Expertise in the field that a volunteer selects would be an advantage but is not necessary.

Volunteer terms can last from 2 days, to two weeks to several months. Spanish fluency is an advantage but if you don't speak Spanish we can include classes in your program (at extra cost). People in the high Andean communities are all native Quechua speakers and so in some cases cannot communicate in Spanish.

Each project, each different stay has a different cost. Please contact us for further details and we can assist in creating for you a truly meaningful volunteer experience.

Mini projects

Mini volunteer projects (example program)

Small projects are as follows

Education:

• Fine Arts Project (example program.)

For all other program descriptions contact us directly.

Diet:

• Trout Breeding Dams construction.
• Construction of Greenhouses.

Health:

• Campaigns of oral hygiene.
• Campaigns of personal hygiene.
• Alternative Medicine project (use of medicinal plants).

Craft:

• Andean textiles project
• Andean Iconography studies

Archaeology

• Study of the Inca legacy

Tourism:

• Ecological Houses Construction project.
• Ecotourism Project
• Rural tourism project

Environment:

• Project of Reforestation of native forests.
• Organic and inorganic residues recycling project.

photos from near the lares pass, alta accha

APUS PERU Adventure Travel Specialists - Email: apusperu@westnet.com.au

© A.Svenson 2005. The design, content and photographs (except where noted) are 100% original. The majority of our treks were designed by Apus Peru.