Experience:
Organisation:
Name: Cosmo
Hometown: London
Destination: The Sacred Valley, Peru
Project type: Teaching English and conservation
Organisation: Projects Abroad
What were your impressions of your destination?
Peru's Sacred Valley is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. I wish I could find words less commonplace to describe it. Although it's impossible to see the full length of the valley as it twists and turns, what you can see from vantage points such as the ruins above Pisac are among the best one can hope to see in one's life. I have never fallen so hopelessly in love with anything else.
Was the work interesting and challenging?
Teaching English around the Sacred Valley is a challenge as the children seem not to take much of an interest, even those who want to go into tourism. Conservation work, however, is indescribably rewarding. To be sure there are times of boredom, such as the momotony of cleaning the walls of a sacred spring near Cusco, but the opportunity to work on an excavation in Sacsayhuaman above Cusco was well worth the drudgery of scraping moss from bricks with a trowel.
What was your accommodation like? Did you feel comfortable and welcome at all times?
I found my family in Pisac welcoming, hospitable, amenable and charming. Their concern for my wellbeing was without bounds, and their eagerness for me and the other volunteer to join in with their celebrations (such as finishing an extension they were building) was...well...fantastic.
Were you happy with the organisation and the staff that were responsible for you during your stay?
The organisation, TAPA, was happy to help me change projects when I became unhappy with teaching and was supportive and, frankly, fun throughout.
Do you feel that you got value for money on the project?
I spent slightly more than 1200 pounds for two months, and would happily have stayed on longer at whatever price.
Would you recommend the project to others?
Yes
