idealistas.org

We are keen to start a group with the fathers. We have had trouble doing this in the past, especially as the political history here has made people distrustful of each other and so there is little feel of community. Also, the groups we have been running, sewing classes and discussion groups, are not the kind of thing that the dads want to be involved in.

To this end, we are going to start a football group with the dads. We have started talking to them about this and so far the responses have been really enthusiastic. We hope that the dads will enjoy it, the opportunity to spend some time with friends and let off some steam in the little time they have when they are not working.

It is also hoped that children will be able to come and watch, and maybe we can also think about children’s teams if the idea takes off. We can get the dads to train the kids and so the project can be inexpensive and long lasting. We would also then get the dads interacting with the children and, hopefully, start to see how rewarding this is.

The idea is to start the group running on Sunday afternoons at first and then see how it develops. We need someone to be able to take over the project and coordinate the volunteers and talk to the dads about how they would like it to evolve. The first task is going to be finding a pitch - we have an area in mind, an large space of sand. We will need to clear this out and mark the pitch. We thought it may also be possible to organise the dads to build goal posts, we have funding to buy some wood.

There is also the possiblity to consider running football sessions with the children in the afternoons.

It is likely that this project would take only part time working hours, so there will be the opportunity to be involved in the other projects we are running and we can talk about which you would be interested in during the application process (see website for more details).

Ideally, we do need someone who is able to speak Spanish with fluency. However, other volunteers will be involved in helping so it may be possible for them to communicate for you until your Spanish improves to conversational level. As with any of the posts here, we would encourage people to learn as much Spanish as they can before they get here.

There is a contribution fee for participation. I know it can seem strange to be paying to work, but one third of our budget comes from these donations and so we do rely on them to continue working here. We have lots of fundraising ideas so please get in touch if you need some help with this - you can even fundraise for a specific project if you wish.

Contribution:

$350 (US) per month for first and second month
$250 per month 3-5
$180 per month 6-8
$125 per month 9-12

You will have accommodation provided here but will need to pay for all other expenses such as food and travel.

Please contact volunteering@skipperu.org with any questions

or visit www.skipperu.org to download an application form and view more information about the programmes we are running.