Centro Educativo Las Hormiguitas

Las Hormiguitas is a small, nascent, non-profit, non-governmental and non-denominational organisation dedicated to enriching the lives of local children in Sauce, San Martín, Perú. At the moment we offer the following activities to children aged between 7 and 14:

• educational reinforcement (reading, writing, math)
• arts and crafts
• chess and other games
• soccer, touch rugby
• environmental education

This is a very new organisation with an enormous scope for growth. We are looking for people who love working with children, and who are interested in building something from nothing to come and share their knowledge, experience and passion.

The children we work with are lovely! They are full of joy, energy and curiosity, and they are positively desperate to learn. They live in simple houses, often with their extended families, and generally have few possessions. A lot of their day is spent playing outside, in the street or at the park, or helping work their family's land. Most of the work here is agricultural, and many families own smallholdings where they grow cacao, plantains and pineapples. Many would think of them as poor, as they have little money, and certainly no tablets or games consoles, but I think of them as the lucky ones.

Something they certainly lack is academic and artistic stimulation. In school they learn by rote and copy too much. They are not sufficiently challenged to think independently or creatively. They are not encouraged to read, or draw, or make things with their hands. Often they are bored. We envision a space where they can come to play, learn and create.

Our ten core values are:

• love
• respect
• responsibility
• positivism
• honesty
• humility
• compassion
• tolerance
• comradeship
• collaboration