Sarah Oakes

Well – another great result for LAFF and its support of street kids has been addressing a need for long-term Spanish-speaking volunteer support for our project in Peru. This week I’ve been looking at volunteer support for LAFF and its projects – both in the UK and overseas. As well as working on a task list for UK volunteers to support us with, I’ve been fostering links between a volunteer-sending organisation called Project Trust who send volunteers for long term one year placements supporting projects with teaching English and social care – two key areas our main project – Azul Wasi children’s home – needs support with.

We have been really pleased to link up with Project Trust who will hopefully be supporting us with long term volunteers in future years – a great resource on-the-ground to help the Azul Wasi be as successful as possible in its support for street kids. Volunteers will be helping the children by teaching English, helping with homework (many of the children have never had the opportunity to attend school previously so this is very much needed) and assist with vocational training.

The kids home has a bread oven, greenhouse, and small hold. The aim of these resources is to reduce the costs of the home, but also to help train the children in vocational skills that will help them become more employable once they leave the home. Volunteer support at the home will mean that the children will be able to learn how to use these resources effectively – reducing the costs of the home too.

Plea for solar shower help!

Fingers crossed we will have long term volunteers arriving from the end of this year, but in the meantime we have one volunteer spending time helping on the ground with implementing our new project financial reporting system and capacity building in this area. She’ll also be taking out some solar showers to further  our cost reduction activity at the home – anyone who has a solar shower bag sat in their loft – please send to us and we’ll make good use of it to help street kids in Peru!

One of my most important tasks this week has been to update LAFF supporters on the aftermath of the effects of flooding on one of our project sites. Back at the end of January, terrible floods hit the Cusco region - the worst seen in decades. 3,000 homes were destroyed, thousands of residents had to evacuate – struggling to meet their basic needs and in a constant battle to prevent their homes being consumed by the rising flood waters – you can see a video of the extent of the devastation below. Sadly, Azul Wasi - a home for street children supported by LAFF – was one of those homes.

LAFF worked hard to increase awareness and support via the BBC as international media focused only on the recue of tourists despite devastation for the local people.

LAFF also coordinated an emergency relief effort to support Azul Wasi, who had to evacuate, construct flood barriers, and provide shelter, food, water, supervision and care for the children. LAFF received a lot of volunteer support and donations at this crucial time which ensured that the home now still stands and the children remained safe throughout, however all the charity’s efforts had to be focused on the home and its survival.

Thankfully Azul Wasi now has flood defences protecting the home from potential future flooding and we are working to repair any structural damage to the home and its grounds as well as ensure its future stability. Happily the boys have returned to the home and have been able to return to school at the start of the academic year in March.

So this week’s task is to update all the LAFF supporters and let them know that all is now well at the children’s home, and give a HUGE thanks for their help over February and March. Without supporters – there would be no children’s home at all, so thanking them and communication with them is vitally important.

With that done, and all admin up-to-date, I’m turning my hand to Peru – my next task this week is to introduce a new budgeting and accounting system to our charity partners in Peru – no mean feat in a receipt-less land! Wish me luck…

Hasta pronto!

Sarah

Well, I can’t believe it’s been a week since the Vodafone workshop where the two months working for LAFF all began – it feels like ages ago already!

Since then, I’ve had just over a week working for LAFF and I finally feel like I’m getting somewhere. Working solo from the living room some people might find hard to get motivated, but I’ve been desperate to have more time to dedicate to LAFF since we founded it over two years ago – it’s impossible to do everything you want to in a couple of hours on an evening, so to have this much time is fantastic. My problem is probably unlike lots of other volunteers who are not sure what to do and how to make a difference - mine is where to start!

Unfortunately, inevitably, I had to start with a mountain of admin. So, Tuesday began with me sat on my living room floor, in a sea of receipts, press cuttings, thank you cards from children in Peru and budget requests, trying to make order of it all. No excuses I know, but when you only have a few hours a night to dedicate to a charity, there’s a limit to what you can do, and until now we definitely hadn’t prioritised our filing system! So dull as it sounds, that’s how it all began.

Time with LAFF has meant I’ve also been able to look at other resources that we have not been able to make the most of - updating the website for example, and meeting volunteers who want to help in other areas, such as research, fundraising and advertising.

So – maybe not the most interesting start in the exciting world of international development, but small steps make big changes I guess, so I’m happy to be building solid foundations for the moment. And even I can be convinced to spend a day on spreadsheets when I’ve just organised photos from last year’s visit to Azul Wasi – a home for street children supported by LAFF. Here’s why…meet Dany and his first ever homemade pizza, made in a bread oven funded by LAFF…

Hasta pronto!

Sarah

So this is the first blog post of my placement with  World of Difference UK. I’m going to be spending the next two months working full-time for LAFF – Latin American Foundation for the Future – a charity supporting street children in Peru.

I’m really looking forward to it! It’s been a long time dream of mine to work full-time for LAFF, and after 3 years living in Peru, and many evenings working on LAFF projects after finishing my day work, it’s finally happening. 2 months is not a long time but I hope to make a difference in the lives of street children in Peru by increasing awareness of the problems they face, and as a result, funding for the projects we use to help them.

So…looking forward to updating you over the coming weeks with (hopefully!) good news about the progress we’re making, thanks to this fantastic opportunity given by Vodafone’s World of Difference programme. Watch this space!

Sarah Oakes with street children in Peru