Volunteer in childcare in Peru, where your compassion and skills create lasting impact for some of society’s most vulnerable children who face extraordinary challenges and limited access to consistent, nurturing care. Your contribution directly addresses critical gaps in Peru’s social support system, where orphanages, children’s homes, and shelters operate with minimal funding and often lack adequate staffing to provide the individualized attention these children desperately need.
Many children in Peru’s care system have experienced profound trauma, having lost parents due to poverty, disease, family violence, or abandonment. Others are children of underage mothers who are themselves victims of domestic abuse, creating complex family situations requiring specialized care and support. These children often struggle with emotional, mental, developmental, and physical challenges that demand extra special attention and therapeutic intervention that overwhelmed facilities cannot always provide.
Your volunteer work fills this crucial void by providing consistent, loving care and developmental support across various settings. Whether working in orphanages run with the atmosphere of a large family, supporting children with special needs who require specialized attention, or caring for infants and toddlers in homes for underage mothers escaping domestic violence, your presence brings stability and hope to children who have experienced significant disruption in their young lives.
The childcare experience provides profound personal and professional growth as you develop patience, cultural sensitivity, and specialized skills while immersing yourself in daily Peruvian life. Working within these care systems provides authentic cultural exchange and deep community connections that extend far beyond typical volunteer experiences. Your dedication creates ripple effects that reach entire families, as the children you support develop the emotional resilience and social skills needed to break cycles of poverty and violence.
For volunteers willing to commit at least a month and possessing specialized skills in counseling, social work, psychology, or nursing, opportunities exist to work with children facing the most complex challenges. These placements offer intensive experiences that can be professionally transformative while providing critical support to devoted organizations in Cusco that have taken on the challenge of caring for society’s most vulnerable children but need your help and expertise to succeed.
Successful childcare volunteers should possess basic Spanish conversation skills to effectively communicate with children, young mothers, and care facility staff. While fluency isn’t required, the ability to comfort children, provide instructions, and connect with mothers in their native language significantly enhances the caregiving experience and builds essential trust. This foundation helps you understand the complex emotional needs of children who have experienced trauma and allows you to better support mothers who are navigating difficult circumstances.
Comfortable, practical clothing is essential for childcare volunteers, as you’ll be actively playing with children, participating in activities, and moving throughout care facilities. Dress casually in clothes you don’t mind getting dirty – comfortable pants, closed-toe shoes, and shirts suitable for playing, cleaning, and physical activities. This relaxed dress code reflects the nurturing, home-like environment of care facilities where volunteers serve as supportive figures who prioritize children’s comfort and engagement over formal appearances.
Beyond practical considerations, volunteers must demonstrate exceptional patience, emotional resilience, and cultural sensitivity when working with children who have experienced abandonment, abuse, or family trauma. The ability to provide consistent emotional support, engage in therapeutic play, and maintain calm, reassuring presence helps children develop trust and emotional stability. Your daily tasks include caring for children’s basic needs, teaching English to young mothers to improve their employment prospects, and assisting with various house activities that maintain the supportive community environment.
Experience working with children or in social services is valuable but not mandatory, as genuine compassion, emotional maturity, and commitment to child welfare often prove more important than formal qualifications. Volunteers should be prepared to witness challenging situations and respond with appropriate professional boundaries while providing unconditional support. The ability to adapt to different care environments – from orphanages to homes for special needs children to shelters for young mothers – requires flexibility and emotional strength.
Reliability and long-term commitment are crucial, as vulnerable children and mothers depend on consistent volunteer presence throughout the program duration. Volunteers should be prepared to work within existing care structures, collaborate respectfully with local staff and social workers, and maintain appropriate boundaries while building meaningful, therapeutic relationships with children and families who need stability and hope.
Working as a volunteer in the Childcare Project, you will work 4-5 hours per day, Monday through Friday. Depending on individual skills and interests, and the needs of the local staff, daily activities involve:
The full package contains donation to the orphanage or shelter, and Nativos services, i.e., 20 hours Spanish group lessons, airport pickup and full support during the stay, homestay with 2 meals per day, and extra activities.
First week: $450
Each following week: $225
There are about 40 children at the girls and boys orphanage in Cusco ranging from infants–17 years old, however the majority are aged between 6–14 years old.
There are 7-8 mothers in the shelter of the age 14-18. Each of them have 1 or 2 children from 0 to 4 years old.
Volunteers can teach English, computer skills, play with the children, work with socialization of the children, assist in household duties or simply enjoy time with the children. Volunteers are free to teach and bring information on subjects they may like and/or share information about their home country. The orphanage encourages art, crafts, music, dance and drama for the children. You are free to teach and share in any of these areas that are age appropriate.
Girls and boys also may play outside or play sports. There will be different activities based on the age of the children and their school hours for those that attend, with varying schedules depending on grade level.
You will work about 4 – 5 hours a day on average.
Yes, you can come any time of a year.
It is important to respect that in Peru the teaching methods may vary from those that you are used to at your home country. Teachers may know less English than you would expect from an English teacher in your home country. Lessons are taught often in a repetitive and slow way. It is important to support the teacher in motivating the students for learning English. In Peru, especially in Cusco about 80% of all jobs are in tourism. It is critical for students to learn English for their future professions, which may very well be in tourism where the English language is vital to receive a well-paying job.