Peru Machu Picchu Welcome Pack 2021

A guide to your journey..

PERU Machu Picchu WELCOME PACK

Welcome to Challenges Abroad Welcome to Challenges Abroad and your Summer Challenge of 2021.

I am delighted to present your Welcome Pack for your trip next summer.

Working with local and rural communities, Challenges Abroad relies on our volunteers like you to help sustain the ongoing work at the projects. The sustainability of local communities is a top priority for us and for our volunteers and we are proud of the fact that we are committed to meeting the UN goals for sustainable development, helping disadvantaged people around the world have a brighter future.

This experience overseas would give you the opportunity to become a global citizen with the first hand understanding of the challenges of global development and how you can contribute towards solutions.

This pack has information on your in-country programme as well as other integral components of your challenge in summer 2021. Please read through the pack carefully as it contains important information about flights, visas, travel insurance, DBS/PVG checks and your programme!

Thank you for joining the challenge and I wish you all the very best with your fundraising!

Best Wishes,

Prakriti Prakriti Malhotra Director Challenges Abroad

Supporting the . . .

Peru

Programme Overview Your Machu Picchu Challenge will be to engage the students in learning English, through games and different creative dynamics. From our observation at a nursery and primary school, motivation is the driving force to obtain tangible results within the English curriculum.

You will be working for a week at a local school where the FutureSense Foundation is engaged in a long-term partnership to teach English to the children at Nursery schools. We firmly believe that if we want to make a change, we need to focus of our efforts on the younger generation.

After completing your first week and acclimatising to the higher altitude, you will them embark on your 5-day Machu Picchu trek.

Peru Key Focus In Peru, we work with children and their families in the region of Cusco, in Urubamba. We work to address important issues affecting the communities we work in. We want to contribute to education and specifically, improving communication and language skills. Learning English is a game changer for these communities as they can access better jobs and earn substantially more within our target area of Urubamba district.

The focus of our Machu Picchu Challenge programme is to immerse you into our educational, well-being and development projects. Increase our impact through a variety of skills from teaching English through to promoting health & hygiene programmes, global citizenship along with improving the infrastructure in the schools.

programme overview

Week 1: Implementing our English and/or STEM programmes to students aged 4 to 13 and support our infrastructure initiative by upgrading the schools, through educational murals and/or planting trees. Our education programme goal is to increase access to quality education.

Students will further develop their confidence, English skills and their critical thinking skills. This will enable them to gain professional and educational opportunities and deepen their motivation to learn. We focus on fun, creative and interactive learning. Your energy will be focused on engaging students in their learning and inspire teachers to break with the rotelearning teaching techniques.

Week 2: 5 Day Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu This incredible 5 day trek will see you challenge your mental and physical ability as you trek through mountain passes up to 4600m! You’ll pass through picturesque scenery, remote villages and hot springs before reaching the incredible lost city of the Incas at sunrise.

Extension Trip: After your programme finishes, you will either depart to the UK or you can take part in our Arequipa extension trip. You will receive an email with the full itinerary so you can decide if this is something you would love to do!

IN Country Information Accommodation You will be staying in a local hostel that has everything you need for a comfortable stay.

You will be in a dorm-style room with en-suite toilets. Rooms sleep up to 4. Â Additionally, the hostel has space for lesson planning and debriefs as well as adequate space to relax. Sheets, pillows and pillowcases are all provided however you should bring your own towel. Our office is based a little bit further into city.

Food You will have a continental style breakfast every day at the hostel in Urubamba, and dinner from Sunday night to Friday each week at a local restaurant. Lunches will be provided Monday to Friday. Meals are mostly vegetarian; and are based on local ingredients and traditional preparations. All dietary requirements will be catered for as long as our team have been made aware of these prior to your arrival. Meals on free days in Cusco are not provided and while on the extension trip all meals are included.

On the Salkantay trek, you will have three meals a day and it is possible to ask vegetarian, vegan, gluten free or lactose free options. The Agency also caters for specific allergies.

Keep an eye out for emails from Support@challengesabroad.co.uk with more information and detials on your destination throughout the year!

Contacts and Thailand Visa Support

Throughout every stage of your Challenges Abroad journey there are members of staff available to support you. Different people will be able to answer the different questions that you may have. Your Challenge Leader and SEM can act as your first point of call for most issues, but there is also in-office support who are there to deal with more specific queries.

First point of contact Contact your SEM first for queries about your programme, vaccinations, fundraising advice and any other little queries you may have: Lizzie George: Lizzie@challengesabroad.co.uk Your SEM then may direct you to the In-office support team who can deal with more specific, bigger queries: Support@challengesabroad.co.uk - 01635 285666 for queries about flights, visas, and medical/allergy/dietary requirements, extension trips, DBS/PVG, general programme information and any changes to your personal information.

Support@futuresensefoundation.org - 01635 285669 for queries about your fundraising, if you’re struggling with fundraising events, donations, VMG pages and extra merchandise.

Out of hours emergency: +44 (0) 7741311855

What to do next DBS/PVG It is important for us that all our volunteers should require an advanced DBS (The Disclosure and Barring Service Check) or as you will be working with children. If you already possess a valid DBS certificate, then we request that a scanned copy or photograph is sent to us via Support@challengesabroad.co.uk.

However, if you currently do not obtain a valid DBS check then please follow the link to apply for your DBS check: www.carecheck.co.uk.

Your Organisation reference is - THEFUTURESENSEFOUNDATION Organisation code – Leave blank Purpose of check – Volunteer Position applied for – Challenges Abroad Volunteer As Volunteers, we have an arrangement with care-check that you only pay the administration fee of £8.40. ID will be checked by a member of Challenges Abroad either face to face or via Skype.

Scottish Volunteers will be done through the PVG Scheme.

Flights Regarding your trip dates, arrival / departure times etc. then please contact support@challengesabroad.co.uk or call the office on 01635 285666. If you have booked onto one of our extension trips, due to minimum numbers please wait for a confirmation from us that your extension is going ahead before booking your flights.

Expect this to be confirmed in January 2021 latest.

For your trip to you must make sure that you arrive into Cusco Airport on the Saturday by 2 pm. When departing your programme, please ensure your flight is after 12 pm. If you are on the extension trip, your international return flight to the UK should be from Arequipa and depart after 9pm (you will receive more details regarding this).

What to do next Insurance We require for every participant to have travel insurance and as each participant has different circumstances we let individuals sort their own. Please do ensure that you are with a reputable provider. If you need any further help on this then you can always contact us at support@challengesabroad.co.uk.

Once you have received your insurance policy then we request that the following details are sent to us; What Insurance company, your policy number, and the emergency medical assistance number.

Vaccinations We recommend that you visit your GP and tell them the country you are travelling to and the areas you will be situated in so that they can give you suitable medical advice.

Please refer to the following link: https://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/home  For more information on vaccinations for travel visit: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/travel-vaccinations/

Fit to Travel For anyone that has a severe allergy, or medical condition then we must require a fit to travel form from your GP. Most surgeries have their own format for paperwork, but in case they ask you to supply your own, let us know and we can provide you with this. You should receive it in an email from the Support team anyway.

Thailand Peru VISAVisa

British, Australian, Canadian, American or EU nationals do not need a visa. On arrival, you’re normally given permission to stay for up to 90 days.

For any other nationalities please look at the information provided at: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/peru/entry-requirements

Where does my Thailand Visa money go?

Clarity is extremely important when you are fundraising, both for you the participant and those that donate money. As such, the information below details how your fundraising total is used by Challenges Abroad and The FutureSense Foundation.

Each participant is required to raise £1,850 towards their trip. This amount is split between the costs of your actual trip and fundraising to support the charity as follows:

Programme Costs - £850 We believe that our programme costs are extremely competitive compared with any other similar programme. Within these costs we cover the expenses for your: Pick ups and drops at every point Accommodation in country Daily transfers to and from project All other transfers in country Meals during project time 24/7 support from in country and UK Teams Planning and delivery of your entire programme

Fundraising - £1,000 The fundraising contribution goes towards supporting the work of The FutureSense Foundation and the programmes that we run for disadvantaged communities worldwide. The charity prides itself on keeping its overheads low, with the aim of ensuring that 90% of income being spent on overseas programmes rather than on administrative costs.

The FutureSense Foundation The FutureSense Foundation work to support over 8000 beneficiaries across Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, India, Tanzania and Peru. Guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, our programmes focus on improving education, livelihoods, and health in some of the most disadvantaged communities overseas. To give you an example, 617 million children in education are not learning. We inspire children in our partner schools to aspire and achieve, so they are able to progress with their education and improve their livelihoods. As a grass roots organisation, we are committed to keeping our cost per beneficiary low, ensuring that every penny makes a difference and ensuring your fundraising money will go further in supporting our ongoing projects.

We are 100% dedicated to sustainable and ethical volunteering which is why our volunteers are at the heart of what we do. This is where you come in. Our volunteers play a fundamental role in supporting our in-country teams delivering our long-term programmes in our partner schools and communities. To find out more, please visit www.futuresensefoundation.org.

How your money can help

£10 per month

£50 per month

provides a child in Cambodia with supplementary Education, books and a medical check-up.

enables us to provide children at school with clean drinking water.

£250 donation

£1000 donation

enables us to build a hand washing station at a school in a rural community.

provides running water for children at a school by installing a rain water harvesting system.

Thailand Visa WHAT TO eXPECT To fully prepare for your programme, you can expect to hear from us at various points throughout the year, providing you with further information about your programme, as well as requesting further documentation from you. Below we have outlined what you can further expect over the course of the year.

Key:

Challenges Abroad Contact

What you can expect from us Receive welcome pack and invitation to join Facebook group from Challenges Abroad

FutureSense Foundation Contact

What we expect from you Join facebook group Create and Personalise VMG Page

Receive welcome email from the FutureSense Foundation Receive T-shirt within 14 days of registering Fortnightly email with hub updates and fundraising Ideas Receive monthly emails from CA Support Pre-departure briefing 8 weeks prior to departure

Attend team meetings and socials Hit monthly fundraising deadlines Complete DBS check 5 months prior to departure Send Flight and Insurance Information 5 months prior to departure Motivated Volunteer!

An Incredible experience!

To stay connected with your team, your Challenge Leader will organise various socials and events throughout the year so please do try to go along to meet your team! The Futuresense Foundation will also be in touch regularly to chat to you about your fundraising. We will also hold fundraising workshops and team meetings. Please keep in touch and reply to any emails within the time frame requested to ensure a smooth journey with Challenges Abroad! We look forward to having you on our programme!!