Volunteering in Trujillo, Peru

This post is not for my regular readers, it is meant for people who are thinking about volunteering in Trujillo, Peru, were googling around and found this blog. Welcome I volunteered in Trujillo for 5 months in 2009, and thought I would share my knowledge.

What is Trujillo like?

Trujillo is a big city that seems small when you are there. I did not find it beautiful or inspiring, but I did find it very interesting. There are not many foreigners about, which means you will get some attention on the street if you have pale skin, and it means you won’t meet other backpackers or volunteers unless you really look for them. This does, however, mean that you will be experiencing the “real” Peru. There are two western malls where you can escape from the “real” Peru, but also tons of markets where you can experience it in abundance.

Trujillo’s biggest selling point is the weather; all year round, it is never too hot and never too cold and it hardly ever rains. Also, Trujillo is one of the cheaper places in Peru so you can go out to dinner every day (I did!).

Trujillo’s main disadvantage is the traffic; it is smelly, loud and dangerous. People honk all the time. This makes wandering through Trujillo on foot not quite the pleasurable experience that it could have been. Also, it is in the desert and there isn’t much nature around.

If you are looking for a “cool” backpacking volunteering experience with lots of partying and meeting other volunteers, Trujillo is probably not for you. Go to Huanchaco, or if you have the whole of Peru to choose from, Arequipa or Cusco. If you want to be in the nitty, gritty “real” “poor” Peru with llamas and people in traditional dress who have never seen a white person before, so to speak, you should go to a more rural area than Trujillo, and more inland.  But if you like to be in a city atmosphere, if you want the amenities of the Western world available yet be forced to speak Spanish to get them, if you want people wondering why the hell you came here and not Cusco, if you want the ocean near and gorgeous weather at all times, go to Trujillo!

Volunteering in Trujillo:

What follows is a description of the voluntary organisations in Trujillo and Huanchaco that I know of:

The two organisations that I worked with personally:

FiorePeru

Teaching English via Fiore-Peru is a safe option, as you will be picked up from wherever you arrive, will be able to spend the nights at the school (nice house in safe area, internet, garden, kitchen, shared rooms, warm showers) and will be cooked for (all this also counts if you don’t want to volunteer but only want to take Spanish lessons). There is an in-house cook/housekeeper/receptionist who is lovely and will be a great help to your Spanish as she does not speak English. The work is teaching English to groups of adults, mainly in the evenings, and I believe they also want to start some English playgroups for small children. You won’t be very busy. You’ll have to pay a little money which won’t be much compared to other organisations (though you can also find cheaper options), email them for a quote. The downside of Fiore-Peru is that it is a little lonely as there are not many other volunteers, and Trujillo isn’t the kind of town where you meet other backpackers easily. The upside is that it is safe and organised.

Espaanglisch

Espaanglisch is slightly less organised and therefore more adventurous. You will have to make your own way to the school (although I’m sure someone will pick you up if you ask for it specifically). The house (roof terrace, single rooms, internet, kitchen, cold shower) is in a slightly less safe but more lively neighbourhood. You won’t be cooked for, so you’ll have to fend for yourself. You’ll be teaching English to either lively groups of teenagers in the mornings or you will be leading conversation classes for adults in the evenings. Whichever you end up doing, it will only be a few hours every day. You won’t have to pay for doing the work but if you decide to live at the school you will have to pay a little rent. For not much more money you could also choose to live in a hostel. There will usually be one or more volunteers around, although it is not a big group and you still might be lonely every now and then.

Other volunteering options that I have seen/ heard of:

SKIP

Skip does excellent work for children from the poorer areas of Trujillo. I have not had personal experience with this organisation but I believe they are well-organised, with a volunteer house where many volunteers live and where you will be working quite a bit in the nitty gritty areas of Peruvian society doing various jobs.

Otra Cosa

Otra Cosa is based in Huanchaco, the beautiful but touristy seaside village near Trujillo. If you are looking for a volunteer experience that is also a bit of a holiday, this might be your best option. I have heard from people who had a bad experience with Otra Cosa, where the organisation failed and the work they were expecting to do wasn’t actually available on arrival, but I have also heard very positive stories. They have several different types of work and a volunteer house where you can live and where you will meet people. Huanchaco in general is a great place to live and go out, you will meet tons of backpackers and surfers.

Fairmail

Helping (ex-)streetkids make a living by teaching them to take photos. If you are in any way into photography this is a great volunteering opportunity. I never personally met a volunteer from this organization, though, so I can’t tell you what it’s like…

Mundo de Niños

A home for streetkids in Huanchaco. I don’t know if they even have places for volunteers, you’d have to email them and ask, but the organisation deserves a mention on here just for the brilliant work that it does.

Meeting people in Trujillo:

You can just sit on the Plaza de Armas and wait for some (annoying) old guy to invite you to have dinner with his family (happens a lot), but if you don’t want to do that, Trujillo can be a bit lonely.

The best bar to meet fellow travellers and open minded Peruvians is called Bohemios (Independencia 989, 5 minutes from the Plaza de Armas). It is never really full, and the staff will be happy to meet you and to introduce you to people if you tell them you are new in town.

There are hardly any internet communities which you can use to meet people in Trujillo, unless you want to try a dating site, where I’m sure you would get tons of attention! For some odd reason though, Couchsurfing.org is very popular in Trujillo and has a group that has regular meetups.

If you start craving more company from non-Peruvians, head over to Huanchaco (the touristy surfer town near Trujillo) and go out drinking or dancing in Sunkella (reggae club) or Sabes (cafe bar). During the day, have some gorgeous lunch in restaurant Otra Cosa (not to be confused with the volunteer agency) or Chocolat, put on your best extroverted shoes and chat to some of the other people there (more difficult than chatting to people at night in a club, but worth it.)

Well, that was my knowledge (and a lot of my opinions) about Trujillo. If anybody has things to amend or to add; that’s what comments are for, people! Go for it!