Help teaching English on our organic farms small organic agricultural community in Duraznillo, Amazonas, Peru

I am so incredibly grateful for having had the privilege to spend two weeks in Duraznillo living with Doña Trine and Aldalicio. From the minute I arrived I felt so incredibly welcome. Here you will certainly get the true Peruvian experience. Life is simple here and that’s exactly why I loved it so much. I gave English lessons at the primary school… read more in the mornings (which you have to setup yourself by having a meeting with the principal) and in the afternoons I helped pick coffee in the fields. On Sundays Trine and I would bake using a sort of pizza oven they have in the back yard. You will never go hungry here and the food is absolutely delicious.
Occasionally I also gave extra English lessons in the afternoons. This usually ended up turning into acro yoga and gymnastics class. The kids loved it. Alternatively we would also play games in English or sing English songs. Wilder was great at organizing everything although it did take a few messages for him to actually respond. I will never forget my special time in this beautiful mountain village. Would highly recommend this to anyone seeking a true Peruvian experience.

I stayed three weeks in Duraznillo and it was one of the best experiences in my life!
The people are very nice, hospitable and very interested in other cultures. I had my own room and the food was amazing. They mainly eat what they grow plus rice and pasta, all tasted very natural.
I mainly worked on the organic coffee farm and organized a soccer… read more training in the afternoons together with the local sports teacher.
Wilder lives in Chachapoyas and I was staying with his family. He organized my ride to the village, since two years Duraznillo is connected to the road.
Basic Spanish skills are kind of needed because nobody really speaks English.

I totally recommend to go to Duraznillo! Happy to answer any questions regarding my stay there.

On the road for a year and this has been my favorite travel experience yet.

I stayed for 2 weeks in Duraznillo and helped harvest coffee and taught casual English in the afternoons. When I arrived the kids were just beginning trimester break, so be flexible to help out with any needs they have. If you just have 1 week, i might recommend finding… read more something else because of how difficult it is to arrive. They seemed accustomed to volunteers doing a month-ish.

I was the only volunteer there and a family of 4 (Savino Chavez Valqui) received me and fed me. I fell in love with the children of the village. So kind and open, and curious to find out more about you.

This experience was a deep and authentic immersion into a Peruvian farm life- i highly recommend choosing something else if you don’t speak Spanish, because your experience may be completely different (and difficult). It’s not easy to get there, and not easy to get out, but it’s worth everything if you can figure it out.

I hope future volunteers find the same positive and transformational experiences that I found. It’s a peaceful place doing good agricultural work.

Staying in Duraznillo was one of our best workaway experiences (and we had many ;) ). We received a lot of love and care from local people, especially our hosting family. When we arrived, we discovered it's actually holiday, so the first week we worked on picking coffee and only the second week we taught English in primary and secondary school.… read more There is no real schedule for volunteers, you have to go to the school and make an agreement with the teachers. In the secondary school the best is to speak directly with the English teacher, in the primary – with the director. Beside regular classes we also organized an additional hour in the afternoon for those who want to practice more, but it's up to you. People took great care of us and we are very grateful for the possibility of being part of their life. Actually it was very difficult to leave and we miss them already... The most challenging part was to get to Duraznillo. We took a bus from Lima to Pedro Ruiz (it's much cheaper than taking a bus directly to Chachapoyas, we paid 80 soles instead of 130) and then a minivan to Chachapoyas (5 soles). There is no official transport to Duraznillo, it has to be arranged. Wilder did it for us although it was not easy to stay in touch by phone. The car picked us up at 3am directly from the hostel. The way to Duraznillo took 4 hours, sitting two people in one place, and the road was full of up, downs, curves and holes. Nevertheless it was completely worth time, effort and money. It was one of the best two weeks during our whole travel through South America. If you plan to teach English, you could consider to take some materials with you. We are more than happy to share what we've done during our stay, we also left a letter to next volunteers where we wrote exactly what we did with kids. People in the village don't really speak English and Wilder lives in Chachapoyas (we've never seen him), so at least basic Spanish is kind of needed.

What a secret hidden gem! If you want a true authentic Peruvian experience then come here! I stayed in the most beautiful place called San Ramon. I got a bus from Chachapoya to Duraznillo (Wilder will organise this for you) and then was greeted by Marco (school director) and some horses! We rode for 2-3 hours along the mountains (one horse… read more carrying my bag!).I also walked for part of it which you could do too.

I was totally overwhelmed at this beautiful little place hidden amongst the most beautiful mountains. The views are truly spectacular! The weather was perfect - I understand that it's similar all year round (just with rain in the winter). It was about 20-24 degrees in the day and just colder at night but I was fine with a sweater scarf and hat.

San Ramon is a small place near duraznillo. The people live a basic but beautiful life. No wifi and I found it amazing to disconnect! I had my own room and they arranged that each day I had breakfast,lunch and dinner with a different family - all who were keen to make different dishes for you! They mainly eat what they grow, so it's mainly vegetarian.... there were lots of carbohydrates though so you may wish to bring some fruit with you. Although, I was often given oranges and could buy mangos in the little shop. Just remember to bring toiletries etc with you.

The teaching was fun. The school was so enthusiastic about learning that they initially wanted me to teach quite a lot of classes. However were totally flexible when I explained this would be a lot. In the end I taught 3 classes a day (5 hours total). It was basic English and we did lots of games etc. Also it felt easy as you could just replicate the classes for each class.

If you haven't taught English before, I would advise that you just look up any grammar you need before you go (no wifi!). I would also recommend downloading some English songs for learning (like heads shoulders knees and toes etc and some English pop songs) as the kids loved to sing and dance! I always did songs in the primary classes and they loved it! The kids were so delightful and the afternoons were spent playing football or volleyball wth kids or teachers.

Everyone was so so kind. One of the teachers read my Spanish diary that I wrote each day and people helped me so much. No-one speaks English so it's great place to practice. I had basic (like higher level basic Spanish) and it helped a lot, but you could survive with less. I know there were two other girls who were there with no spanish.

Highly recommend! I would've stayed longer but sadly they had school holidays. I was a bit nervous before I went to this place as there wasn't much information, but it was by far the best decision that I made in my travels! Don't hesitate to go here!!! Once in a lifetime opportunity! The pictures don't do this place justice AT ALL! I made great friends and even then met the teachers in their hometown for a local party in the school holidays! The most unique workaway I've done! If you love kids, want to develop your Spanish and learn about true Peruvian culture - don't hesitate and come here!

Very beautiful experience in the village of San Ramon (another village nearby Duraznillo). The mountains are incredibly beautiful and the people are very very nice. Children are so happy to learn and help you in any ways.
Nobody really speaks english there (they are all learning but cannot talk) so spanish is really helpful to teach and… read more communicate. We stayed there for two weeks and we had a complete teaching task at the school (2 or 3 classes a day from primary to secondary and also community classes). Bring english material there is pretty helpful (vocabulary sheets with drawings, etc...) and they have a photocopier! Me and my friends aren;t English teachers in life and English is our second language but they need very basic tools over there... So don,t be shy and enjoy! (P.S. if you are a soccer player, you will be very happy there!!)

This experience in Duraznillo was incredible!!!! Even if it's hard to contact wilder, please try again and again because it is worth it!!!!! All the village is nice, welcoming and happy to share their daily life with you! I've learn a lot about traditional Peruvian cuisine and ate very well!
All kids are very endearing and happy to learn… read more English,then after class to play volleyball or el
Trumpo. Wilder welcome me in his family like a princess, and he taught me a lot of things about his country and his nature! He knows so much about birds, bees (try his honey it is delicious!!!), coffee, house building, chachapoya history.... He brought me to a very nice ruin in the middle of the jungle. I could say more and more as there is so much to do and discover in Duraznillo but I want to let you discover! Please enjoy your time there!!!

NEW FEEDBACK:
Since I left the first comment about Duraznillo, I have received a lot of
email with a lot of questions! Unfortunately I didn't have time to answer
to all of them, and I am very sorry about that! Therefore, in this message
I tried to answer to all of your questions and hopefully that will help all
the future volunteers :)

I know that the best would be to give you Wilder's phone number but
the privacy policy of the website says that I wasn't allowed to do that.

But few days ago Wilder sent me an email, which mean that now he has access
to internet, at least more than when I contacted him few months ago
So If you wonder if it is worth it to send him a message I would say:
TOTALLY!!!

HOW TO GET THERE?
To got to Duraznillo It is a little bit complicated but not that much! You
have to reach Chachapoyas city, and very early in the morning, around 3am
there is drivers who does the journey in 4X4 almost everyday to Pueblo
Nuevo (Pisuquia). From Pueblo Nuevo you will have to walk approximately
45min to Duraznillo.
Before to arrive to Chachapoya, Wilder already gave me a driver's contact
number, so I booked the journey with him for the next morning to Pueblo
Nuevo. Then Wilder came to pick me up there around 8am (again you can
organize that with him) and we did the walk together. So don't worry, he is
very nice and helpful so you will not be lost, it is just important to
contact him before to arrive to make sure he will be available.

About my experience of course I liked it, I even loved it!!!! Yours might
be slightly different as activities in the field change with season, but you
will definitely fall in love with the child! There are lovely, interested
in learning english and very happy to share their culture with you! I have
always been received like a princess when I was invited to a student's
family, I learned a lot with them like cooking, harvesting, sewing, making
chancaca (sugar), playing volley ball...

If you spanish is very basic of course you will still be able to interact
with people, it will be just more difficult as Wilder is the only adult in
the village learning and speaking a bit of english. But he has some books
with english and spanish vocabulary to help you.

For the clothes you don't need anything special, just for the rain, boots
maybe, cloth that you don't care to work outside.Nights are fresh. And if
you have any cloth that you don't want anymore like shoes... I am sure that
families will be happy to have them as they live modestly.
If you have a solar charger, take it as electricity is not always working,
especially during wet season.

Well I hope that I could help you guys and of course if any other questions
come to your mind, please don't hesitate to send me a message, I will do my
best to answer!

Enjoy your time in Duraznillo!