YOU CAN HELP A CHILD SUCCEED

Education Gap in Peru after COVID19

Nuevo Mocupe is a rural hamlet in the arid Zaña Valley in northern Peru. The area is renowned for the ruins of the Spanish colonial churches that once stood here and for an ancient highway laid down by the Incas. People are proud of their Afro-Peruvian heritage, a legacy of the slavery that once existed here. Nowadays the valley is full of agrobusinesses that produce sugar and rice for the national market and coffee, mangos and passion fruit for export. Many people work as labourers on these massive farms but jobs can disappear overnight. In Nuevo Mocupe, some families have resorted to “recycling,” selling things they find in the local dump. Very few receive any kind of support from the government.

Background

These last few years have been very hard on the children of Nuevo Mocupe. First the COVID19 pandemic closed schools across Peru for 2 whole years. Dropout rates soared and many children fell behind. Then steep inflation caused food and other prices to rise. Political unrest and flooding caused by Cylone Yaku in early 2023 made conditions harder still. The government declared a state of emergency in the region where Nuevo Mocupe is located. A lot of families have had to receive food aid just to get by. Despite these hardships, the families of Nuevo Mocupe are determined to help their children succeed. Heart-Links’ local partner Madre Oliva Association has worked with these families for many years. They know the children and the families. Together they have decided to work to close the education gap caused by school closures during the pandemic.

The good deed

This GOOD DEED will provide 25 primary schoolchildren with afterschool educational reinforcement in the areas of reading, mathematics, arts and craft, and social interaction. This free program will run six days a week, working closely with both parents and teachers to ensure that children progress. Nutritional snacks will also be supplied. The program will help these children get back on track with their learning (and have fun doing it). Evaluation measures include improved school performance and regular attendance. Every child deserves quality education. But without support these children are at risk of dropping out. This GOOD DEED aims to help these children succeed at primary school, which will lead to further schooling and more opportunities as the children grow. For impoverished people in Peru, education remains one of the best routes to higher incomes and greater job security. Giving these children a more solid foundation is the long-term aim of this GOOD DEED.