Support my disaster relief and reconstruction efforts in Peru

I am leaving my wonderful job and comfortable lifestyle to pursue my lifelong dream of contributing to the international humanitarian and aid sector. I have accepted a placement with All Hands Volunteers to join their project in Peru which I am very excited about. This will be my first hands-on experience in disaster relief, and I hope to move from project to project assisting and engaging with communities on the basis of need and long-term community development.

All Hands Volunteers specialises in disaster relief, recovery and rebuilding. I'll be getting down in the rubble and mud supporting the re-build of two schools in a rural community in the north of Peru, often marginalised and overlooked by local authorities.

The disaster:

Peru has suffered from continued rainfall since December 2016. The beginning of February 2017 saw an intensification of rainfall, leading to landslides, floods, flash floods, and mudflows.

Official statistics from the Government of Peru in May 2017 stated that: 1.6 million people have been affected since December, 147 people have died with the number rising. 59,732 houses have collapsed or are inhabitable, and 2,759 educational establishments have been affected.

The project, my role, my lifestyle:

I will be part of a volunteer team building two schools which were destroyed by heavy rainfall. Currently, children and young people in this community are studying in unsafe plywood classrooms as well as being overcrowded in one primary school that is still standing.

The community I will be supporting has often been marignalised as well as overlooked in terms of support from the regional municipality, struggling to receive attention and assistance since the disaster.

AHV has an experienced team of construction and engineering specialists who also train local workers.

I will be doing a diverse range of work, including: digging foundations, mixing and pouring cement foundations and columns, installing drywall and insulation, painting and building water and sanitation facilities.

I will be working 6 days a week, 8 hours a day - from 7.30am to 4.30pm, with Sunday's reserved to give my body a rest.

I am yet to find out what the roof over my head will look like - but it will either be bunk beds with around 7 people or outside in a tent. I'll be showering with a bucket of cold water, using bucket flush toilets, bucket laundry washing, and living with limited internet connection.

The organisation:

All Hands Volunteers is a US-based, non-profit organisation that addresses the immediate and long-term needs of communities impacted by natural disasters. Over the last 12 years, AHV have enabled over 39,000 volunteers to donate 200,000 days impacting 500,000 people worldwide.

The values of AHV align with my personal values and the core humanitarian principles - such as:

- AHV design programmes with local experts that ensures that the materials used are easily accessible and replaceable in the event of another disaster.

- AHV are committed to seeking out the most under-served communities which are usually outside of the public eye

- Through the relief effort AHV offer job training opportunities and certification programs to locals according to the needs of the community

- AHV responds to the initial damage sustained from a natural disaster, as well as staying in a long-term capacity to help communities recover and rebuild.

- AHV does not compete with other organisations to assist a community, if another organisation is better positioned to help - they partner with them and support their efforts rather than duplicating them.