As a qualified accountant who has worked in the non-profit sector for many years I had always wanted to travel and integrate into a new culture not just to experience it as a tourist but to provide something positive to help the people of the area. I contact Accounting for International Development (AfID ) who were extremely helpful in with my decision of where to travel. As an AfID volunteer I was working with the Manager, Mildred Hauck, supporting her and the team by implementing and training in the use of an integrated accounting system and financial procedures.

With the support of AfID, I arrived in Arequipa on Saturday evening the 22nd September 2018, feeling exhausted from my long trip from Ireland wondering had I made the right choice! Thankfully right from the start I was made feel really welcome.
Meeting the international volunteers the next day, intihouse started to feel very much like home. They are very committed to Intiwawa, they stay minimum stay of three months and they all spoke Spanish, which was a fanatics help to me as I don’t speak Spanish and would have been totally lost without their support. It was a huge culture change for me to be living in a huge city surrounded by such poverty.

On the third day we travel out to San Isidro in the slums of Arequipa to visit the project. The trip on the public bus was definitely a new experience for me! The bus was jammed packed and similar to a work out to prevent myself from falling over! As I arrived at the school of Intiwawa the harsh reality of the poverty and the hardship endured by the children became very real. I notice an area near the school where the red bricks were produced and I got told that if the children were not in Intiwawa, they would be helping their mothers produce bricks with their bare hands! I was also remained of the fact that the toilet in Intiwawa was the only one in the area!

The children began to arrive. I hadn’t allowed for the lovely hugs and smiles I was going to get with each happy greeting, “Buenos Dais Miss”. The children were not long about finding their class room and settling in to do their homework. I visited each of the class rooms which were vibrant with students and children. Three of the boys were playing monopoly and asked me to be banker. The boys were very ambitus and were not long about buying up some houses and hotel, requested a “Casa Miss, hotel Miss “. Then the music started as a signal to tidy up for dinner and there was no time wasted in getting to the dining table.

The whole experience just encouraged me to ensure my work enhanced the wonderful work being done by Intiwawa.