When one considers Peru, miles of coastline, arid deserts and impossibly tall mountains come to mind. Once home of the Ancient Incas, Peru is now home to some of civilization's most fascinating ruins. Neighboring Brazil, Peru has the second largest concentration of Amazon rain forest and, as a result, boasts an extremely diverse collection of flora and fauna.
Education is free and compulsory at the primary and secondary levels in Peru. However, as with many developing countries, the ability for children to obtain a quality education is often hindered by their family's ability to pay for school supplies, uniforms and transportation. This problem is further exacerbated when children have any type of developmental delay or disability; they are subject to exclusion from academics and often suffer abuse.
School enrollment and test scores for rural children are lower than those of their urban counterparts. This inequality can be explained, at least in part, by the stark economic divide between upper and middle-class urban families and impoverished rural families. Moreover, enrollment statistics may not speak to actual school attendance, as it has been reported that 34% of Peruvian children are victims of child labor.
Gallery Highlights
Current Projects
Aprendamos Juntos
Working with Fundacion Custer, PaperSeed is providing funding for necessary materials to reopen two “Aprendamos Juntos” classrooms to assist low-income, disadvantaged students with learning disabilities. These classrooms provide support for children who have trouble integrating with other school-aged children due to their learning disabilities, who are often from migrant communities.
The student population of Cieneguillas required a complete elementary and junior high school, however 42 students were attending a run-down school with only two classrooms in inadequate facilities vulnerable to heavy rains. In its place, PaperSeed built a large two-story modern school to accommodate all students in the community to study in the elementary and junior high school.