The Superlearner Peru Project is a community-oriented project that aims to empower kids with no resources to achieve their dreams through formal and informal education. By doing so we compliment the current educational system by offering after school tutoring, language lessons, brain training, physical and other creative activities. Ultimately building self-confidence and self-worth, while stimula
ting their own potential. If you are interested in helping and volunteering with the Superlearner Peru Project, you can find more information at the bottom.
- The story of Jorge, the founder
As the founder of Superlearner, this program is so close to my heart because I was one of those kids. We hear about poverty all the time in the abstract, but it’s the everyday aspects of being poor that drag you down. It’s very hard to feel hopeful and confident when the walls of your “house” are a plastic tarp that whips around in the wind, when you don’t always have shoes, when you don’t have money for school books, much less food, and it wouldn’t matter anyway because you attend a school where 75% of your classmates don’t understand what they read. It’s very hard to feel that you can rise above your circumstances when everything around you seems to say that you are unworthy, that you are not smart enough, and that you will never amount to anything. I know these feelings intimately, and I also know how you overcome them. I was lucky enough to meet kind, big-hearted people like Rosina and Oscar, Erik, Ruben and Clint and Lacey, who encouraged me to learn English, who pushed me to take the college entrance exams even though I was convinced I would never pass them, who gave me the job at the polymetalic mine that helped me save money for college, and who even gave me the money I needed to stay in college after my savings ran out. I am forever indebted to this kindness because these people never let me doubt myself. I was one of the lucky ones, but it’s not enough to just be lucky. Every kid growing up like I did deserves the same opportunity to make the most of their talents and intelligence. This begins with knowing that you are talented and intelligent, that you are worthy, that you can succeed despite all the signs around you saying that you can’t. That kind of empowerment makes people unstoppable. It allows them to rise above their circumstances and build something better. And this is what Superlearner is all about.
- The Project
There are many projects that aim to educate or “help” the poor in Peru. Many of them are not as successful as they could be, though, because they aren’t tailored to the communities they seek to help. Others focus on short-term volunteer missions that might not be sustainable once volunteers leave. With Superlearner, we want to change all of that. We focus on education because of its potential to empower people but also because Peruvian schools just do not provide meaningful education. While wealthy students can afford tutoring sessions and extra books, the impoverished are trapped in a system that doesn’t provide them with the tools they need to learn. This is why Superlearner bring innovative learning methods to children in Peruvian schools, starting with the basics: improving literacy in Spanish and boosting memory skills. Then, we will focus on subjects like English and math that will help students succeed in a globalized economy. For this to work, we will need to collaborate with communities and tailor the implementation of our methods to individual schools. For this reason, we will go into those communities and live with people there for a month while we create a program that will best fit the community’s needs. By learning from each other, we can also train each other in such a way that local teachers and community leaders can keep Superlearner in place once our volunteers leave. With Superlearner, we don’t just want to bring meaningful education to some of Peru’s poorest children. We want to empower those children to overcome their poverty with the confidence that true education provides. We don’t want to simply “help” communities with short-term projects. We want to collaborate with communities to build long-term, self-sustaining programs that continue to benefit local areas long after our volunteers leave.
- About Pamplona Alta
We have already begun this process with Pamplona Alta, where we will begin our pilot project. Our plan for this school is in place, but now we need the human and financial resources to bring it to fruition. Every person working on this project is doing it out of passion: no one is getting paid. If you are as convinced as we are that empowerment is worth investing in, we hope you might consider joining us with a donation or with volunteer time.
- Volunteering
We need help in several ways. These are the skill sets we are looking for:
Assisting with language teaching – Spanish and English. Mathematics Teacher – Specialized in recreational and educational teaching. Psychologist – Help with mentoring and self-confidence of the kids and the parents. Yoga/Sports Instructor – Lead and encourage sports and activities, and encourage a healthy lifestyle. Nutritionist – Assist with general nutrition, and meal programs. Administration/Organization – Leadership and the ability to organize and manage people and projects. Experience with NGOs is ideal. Graphic Design – Tasks include updating / creating our logo, and other general design work. Photographer/Videographer – Promotional projects for funding campaigns and social media. Social Media Marketing – Manage our social media: Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Facebook. Website Management – Continue working on the webpage; it is already started. Community Outreach – Creating and leading fundraising campaigns, Networking and community engagement. Enthusiasm is the only requirement! Any idea is welcome! Tell us how you can benefit our project and we will create a position that best suits your skills and desires. If you are interested contact us here on facebook, or via mail ([email protected]).
