ONG Oye LENA

Oye LENA, founded on 8 February 2013, is an officially registered NGO in Peru. Moreover, Oye LENA is a de facto partnership without legal personality in Belgium.

Oye LENA is short for “Oye Loquitas EN Acción!”, which freely translated means: “Listen up, we are taking action!”

At the moment, an estimated 187 million children in developing countries still do not have access to nursery education. An additional 101 million children do not even go to primary school. This is also the case for many children in Peru. Even though there is compulsory education, only two in three girls between three and five years old go to nursery school. In villages in the countryside this number even amounts to only one in two girls. Moreover, qualitative nursery education remains a major issue in Peru. Toddlers go on to primary school without having the necessary reading, writing or mathematical skills.

Oye LENA tries to tackle poverty and social inequality through qualitative education. Children from underprivileged families and ethnic minorities in rural areas, especially girls, and children with a disability, who hardly receive any attention from the government, should have the same opportunities as others. When a toddler gets behind, it is difficult to catch up later on in life.

Oye LENA is located in Curahuasi, in the heart of the Andes mountain range at an altitude of 2,600 metres. It consists of three educational projects:

Oye INTI WARMA (Quechua: child of the sun) offers education at a school for children with special education needs and does so every morning.

Oye NENE (Quechua: little child) offers education to toddlers, especially girls, who do or do not go to regular schools, and does so every afternoon. The children receive a hot meal, and visits to the doctor’s and the dentist’s are organised regularly. We are convinced that participation and involvement of parents is of the utmost importance. That is why we also organise workshops in which parents learn how to stimulate their children and their development every day.

Oye YACHAQ (Quechua: learning) meets every month with headmasters and kindergarten teachers from nine nursery schools in and around Curahuasi to talk about education, exchange working methods and work towards better education.

Together with the local population and the assistance from the north (businesses, schools, individual contributions,…) it is possible to realise our goals.