What is Team Peru?

Team Peru Denmark is an extra-curricular program for students, established at Copenhagen International School (CIS) in 2005. Currently made up of 13 students and 3 teachers, plus a bigger network of staff and students in a supporting role, it aims to provide Kiya Survivors with long-term financial support. It also works to increase awareness about Kiya Survivors and the challenges faced by disadvantaged families in Peru, within the community.

How did Team Peru start?

In 2000 Ben Ward, a secondary teacher at CIS, took a year long trip to South America, in the hopes of finding a charity that he could highlight in his teaching. Having met Suzy Butler in Cusco after six months, Ben Ward was immediately inspired:

“As soon as I met Suzy, everything felt right. It didn’t take long for me to want to support Suzy as she had this incredible energy and fight. It was very exciting as she was waiting for planning permission to start building the Rainbow Centre and it felt so great to be involved with something from the start.”

After spending a couple of months in Peru, Ben returned to England (with the aim of assembling students to form an extra-curricular program) only to be faced with many difficulties.

Moving to Copenhagen, Denmark in 2004 with his girlfriend and getting a job at CIS, made it easier for him to realize his goal. After a school assembly about the Tsunami in Asia, it became evident that the students wanted to be empowered to do something, but did not want to support another faceless charity. It was then that Ben decided to establish the team.

With the help of a colleague, Alison Black-Storm, Team Peru was finally born. It consisted of 12 students between the ages of 14 and 18 and the weekly program began with fundraising events, Spanish lessons, exploration of Peruvian and global issues, and experience working with children with special needs.

Fundraising

All the money raised by Team Peru goes to Kiya Survivors. The first team of students (2005-06) raised over £10,000, which facilitated the renovation of the Rainbow House. Whilst in Peru in April 2006, the students also worked at the school, renovating showers and painting murals in the entrance.

The 2007-08 Team is aiming to fundraise £20,000 to build a children’s home at Mamma Cocha, in Northern Peru. Excitingly, the Team intends to visit both of Kiyas Projects in March 2008.

The main fundraising events so far have been:

* Motions Day – A sponsored walk in which CIS students are sponsored per kilometer. This is a yearly event which started in 2006

* Jar Wars – An in-school activity where different grade levels compete with each other as to how much money each grade level can put into their own jar.

* Hoops for Hope – Is another competition type activity where the participants are sponsored and given a certain amount for each basked they score on a basketball court.

* Bring and Buy Sale – An event quite similar to a yard sale. TPDK members as well as other members of the CIS community bring in different items to sell for reasonable prices.

* Money Pots – Is a Primary School (grades 1-5) activity. This is an effort to instill the values of charity to some of our younger grades. The idea is that the spare money that these young students have can go to a better cause rather than for example a bar of candy or the latest toy.

* Sponsored Dances – There are frequent dances within school organized by students and chaperoned by CIS teachers where the money for entry and refreshments go to TPDK

* Simon Wejlemand – Last but not least is one of the CIS Physical Education teachers. Simon Wejlemand is a phenomenon within himself who has run a collection of marathons whilst being sponsored 177DKK per kilometer by different companies.

“The support we have had from Copenhagen International School has been incredible. The way the administration, teachers, students and parents have embraced Team Peru has been nothing short of sensational.”

Ben Ward, Team Peru Leader

The Future

Team Peru hopes to provide long term support to Kiya Survivors. Our school community is constantly changing, so the challenge of building awareness and support is on-going and will be a big focus for the future. It is hoped that Team Peru will become embedded within the school curriculum and inspire children in the lower grades to work towards doing something to better the world and maybe one day a place in the Team

The Team aims to visit Peru every two years and to empower as many students as possible. There are now Team Peru members all over the world! Thanks to the power of the internet in connecting a community like CIS, with its friends in the wider world, Team Peru is branching out. After one success story so far, a longer term goal would be to see similar Teams starting in other schools around the world. With the enthusiastic way that Team Peru has been embraced at CIS, this is a very real possibility that would mean a real and sustainable difference for the most vulnerable children in Peru.

To check us out log onto www.teamperu.dk or join our cause on www.facebook.com or visit our blog on http://perutrip2008.blogspot.com/