Brian, November 2009 – May 2010
My time with Andean alliance was absolutely unforgettable. I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to be accepted by, and grow with, a community so different from my own. When I began my work with Andean alliance, I had lofty goals of providing a positive influence, and helping to initiate change where it could do the greatest good. In many ways, I feel as though the association was able to assist me in meeting and even surpassing these goals. For that I am very grateful.
What I was unable to anticipate prior to beginning my volunteering was how profoundly my time there would influence me as a person. My work with the alliance has helped to shape who I am today. To feel like you are making a difference and to be able to see some of those differences taking place in front of you is a satisfaction that is difficult to put into words. The people that I met and the experiences I had while volunteering with Andean Alliance are things that will stay with me forever. I can only hope that my impact on the community that I left behind in some ways rivals the impact that it had on me as a person going forward.
Carol from the U.K, May 2010
I spent about 3 weeks volunteering at the Lazy Dog in May 2010, helping with a few different projects running at that time: education programme; bird list; first thoughts for designing the community project information for the website. This was near the start of a 3 months sabbatical that I was going to enjoy in Peru.
I was made very welcome by the staff there, and Andrea, who was managing the education programme, got me settled into our shared room and into the ways of the Lazy Dog setup. All hands on deck was the general approach, which was fine with me as I wanted to get as involved as possible in the short time I had. I helped out with the teaching in the community school for the first week or two, which was hard with my very basic Spanish but it helped me gain an important insight into my next phase of work – helping to plan future classes.
With my background of conservation and awareness, having spent some time with the children at the community centre and talking to Andrea and Diana about their own teaching experiences, I did some research into class activities that would be possible in the circumstances they were working in. Keeping the classes simple, realising the level the younger and older children can handle but still gain something from is a tricky balance, but we progressed a few ideas that will feed into the year’s education plan. Seeing the struggle that teachers in the local area with teaching large classes of mixed ages really brought it home as to how important projects like this are.
The school teachers at Rivas seem genuinely pleased and thankful to have continuous support from the Lazy Dog, whether through Diana or ongoing volunteers. Working with their government education system, helping to develop it further through providing that extra support, will help both teachers and children gain from the setup.
I also helped Diana with a birdlist for the Lazy Dog. Unfortunately plans to do the biological surveys didn’t work out but I pulled together lists from various guests and birders who have spent time in the quebradas (valleys), polylepis forests and mountainous areas surrounding the Lazy Dog. The idea was to develop a list that was useful for future guests, but could also be used by locally employed guides that will hopefully be working from a community centre that Diana and Wayne are building on their own land.
As a marine biologist, this was an interesting slant on my everyday job, and made me look around much more closely at the birds enjoying the same area that I’d been admiring the last few weeks, and would be exploring further in the weeks to come. I was lucky enough to have a couple of days in the mountains at the weekends whilst I was at the Lazy Dog – firstly to Laguna Churup and then to Laguna 69. Two absolutely amazing and stunning places to go to, and a great start to acclimatising for the trekking I was to do later.
The Lazy Dog was a great place to acclimatise in its own right and I made use of the (relatively!) good road that snakes along the base of the beautiful mountainous backdrop to take a morning walk / run. The Lazy Dog’s staff is extremely dedicated to their work, which is a reflection on Diana and Wayne’s approach to the tourism side of their project, but also the amount of time and effort they spend developing ideas with the community.
My plan was to get to know a little about the country and people by staying in one place before travelling around. The connections through Diana with finding a Spanish teacher and a place to stay in Huaraz, plus the time I spent at the Lazy Dog definitely gave me a very special insight into how people live and work in the area. It was an honour to have some involvement with the project and I will hold many fond memories of this time for years to come. I look forward to keeping an eye on how the projects progress in the future.
Alia Bazarbachi (Indian student from Aiglon College, Switzerland)
The Lazy Dog Inn was an incredible place to stay in. I felt that the local people were extremely hospitable which allowed us to engage into a new culture. Apart from our daily routine of working on the building site, we went horseriding where we were swept away by the breath-taking scenery. Working with the little Peruvian Children was also extremely entertaining and heartwarming because we were able to teach the kids and actually interact with the local community. Overall, my experience at the Lazy Dog Inn was incredible and I would definitely like to return to it.
Jacopo de Bernini (Italian student from Aiglon College, Switzerland)
Last summer July 2010, four classmates and I went to Huaraz to build a community center for the locals. It was an amazing experience not only because I was able to visit a country where I had never been, but also because I was able to do something good for someone else and maybe contribute a little bit to improving their living conditions. I felt I contributed in insuring a future to some kids.
Ariel Ho-Kjaer (Chinese student from Aiglon College, Switzerland)
Peru just started off as a service project for me but as I began to mold into the culture and experience of the country it became so much more. Volunteering building the school brought me out of my comfort zone and into a realm of new faces and places. The people at the Lazy Dog Inn and in the community welcomed us warmly and made me feel comfortable in my surroundings. I will keep the experience in my heart for the rest of my life and will hopefully one day return.
Prakriti Shah (Indian student from Aiglon College, Switzerland)
The Lazy Dog Inn was a great place to stay. The local people are very hospitable and work very hard. It was nice that we could go horse-riding or mountain-biking. This was a change from our usual routine of helping with the community building. Horse-riding was particularly memorable because we rode out in the open and in the Western style. This was a change from the ‘proper’ style of British riding. The food made by the ladies was good and it tasted particularly delicious after a long day’s work! I would definitely go back to The Lazy Dog Inn if I had a chance.
Laetitia Prahin (Aiglon College teacher, Swiss)
What a trip!!! Despite managing to be ill most of the time: altitude sickness first and then stomach bug, I loved every minute of it. It was my very first time in South America and even in the southern hemisphere… and being “head down” transformed my viewpoint on things!
What I loved most of all was meeting people. Let me start with the lovely ladies who cooked for us: when we were complaining about the cold, wearing numerous layers of jumpers and jackets, gloves and hats, they happily worked in our outside kitchen: smiling, cooking delicious meals and chatting away about life. The people on the working site were amazing too… we made them laugh with our regular breaks and our inability to move big rocks when old men and a young woman were doing so with ease. They worked endlessly, whilst we just managed a couple of hours of ACTUAL work a day and were exhausted by it. And last but not least, the children: they were so sweet and so cheeky at times and they knew exactly what to do to make us melt…. Their smile will remain with me for a long time!
It was a fantastic trip and it brought more to me that my tiny contribution did to the project…
Nicolas Dargaud (Aiglon College Teacher, French)
Our visit to the Lazy Dog Inn was amazing and a real eye opener for our students. We left with this feeling of having contributed to a worthy cause and made a tiny difference in this community. Although we were only able to work on the foundations of the community centre and were not lucky enough to see the whole building completed before we left, in a kind of symbolic way, we felt proud to have laid out the foundations for what is more than a building but a real long-term educational project for the Yurak Yacu people. We are looking forward to coming back with another group of keen students in 2011.