(excellent)

Lauren [Aug 02, 2010]:

What a great experience. The kids are very sweet and they greet you with kisses. Luz and Manuel and their families are very welcoming and before long the volunteers and the peruvians become one big family. During our free time we took walks around La Esperanza, went to the beach at Huanchaco, did shopping downtown and small local markets. Some of the most fun I had on the trip was sitting around the kitchen table drinking tea and talking with the other people in the house. This trip opened my eyes to a different type of living and it is experience I will never forget. We highly recommend it.

Lauren (San Francisco, CA)
Emily (Austin, TX)

(excellent)

Steven [Jul 26, 2010]:

I strongly recommend this to anyone willing to give their time to a worthwhile cause. My 2 month stay here is coming to an end, and I only have good things to say about this place.

Luz and Manuel have been more than \'hosts\', they have been amazing friends, and for this I am grateful. They will welcome you to the home; just today we shared some of the most delicious food Peru has to offer, and it was all cooked by Luz, the host!

The school itself has an exciting vision; to provide English language skills to the young people of La Esperanza, essential to their life prospects, where nothing of this sort has previously existed. My favourite aspect of working here has been the one-on-one teaching with young people who are enthused about learning English. A highlight for me was when we told a local boy, Yordi, that he could come and have free lessons here. His face lit up, and he now continues to show up (earlier and earlier) for class every week, improving all the time.

Another great thing is that you have the freedom to create and teach whatever your skills are. The local school is open to arranging classes for whatever topic, and as a result the local kids benefit even more from having volunteers here. I have helped other volunteers teach music, dance, and even acrobatics.

There\'s plenty of free time, and the local area is rich in culture and activities. I have had an incredible experience surfing, playing football, enjoying the fiestas, travelling to other sites of interest, learning how to dance to salsa (like a Gringo) and improving my Spanish.

A few months ago I was the one reading this feedback, wondering whether to travel to Trujillo, Peru, and I would urge anyone finding themselves in the same situation now to do it!

Steve (London, England)

(excellent)

Arielle [Apr 16, 2010]:

I just spent 2 months at this place and had a great time! Manuel and Luz really welcomed me into their family, and made Trujillo feel like a home away from home.

I started out teaching 2 classes a day (5-8 year olds and 12-17 year olds) in the house over the summer and really loved this experience. It was very inspiring to see how these kids were willing to give up part of their summer break to come learn English. I know I would not have had the motivation to that when I was their age. Once school reconvened I began teaching 4 classes at the Colegio. I was teaching 2 second grade classes, a third grade class, and a fourth grade class. Although it was rather difficult getting the kids to focus and learn, it was so rewarding when all of the sudden they learned something you had been struggling to teach them for week!

All in all, this was a great experience!

(excellent)

Sampson [Nov 06, 2009]:

I have just finished a five week stay here and it was without a doubt the most incredible experience of my life so far. Manuel and Luz were fantastic hosts and did their utmost to make me feel at home at all times.

I spent my time here working at the local school. I had three days a week helping out in high school English classes and two days taking primary school students who had just started learning English. The work, especially the with the primary school students can be very challenging but more importantly it is extremely rewarding.

Other highlights for me include learning to surf at Huanchaco, playing football with Manuel’s mates from church, and playing with Emma their almost two year old daughter.

My time here was life changing and I’d definitely recommend this organization to any prospective volunteers.
Samson (New Zealand)

(excellent)

host profile [Nov 06, 2009]:

Oh my God, Sam was like our child in Horizon School, we really like this guy and he was amazing all the time, very respecful and cared about the work he was doing.
We hope he can retunr some day in the near future becuase we really missed him.