Living in Peru : your everyday companion

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

A group of students from Minot State University in North Dakota, USA, has chosen Peru to conduct a 30-day cultural immersion trip.

They will not only visit tourist attractions, but will also improve their learning of Spanish as a second language.

Alex John Lyman, Jessica Revelee, Brandon Smith, Whitney Loftesnes, MacKenzie Mack and Kristina Mader, from United States and Canada, will stay in local family homes and enjoy direct contact with Peruvian culture.

"One of my dreams since I teach Spanish in the United States, was to bring my students to this wonderful country, so they can practice the language and know its attractions. So I referred this project to the Minot State University, where it was fully supported," said Kemerly Moorehouse, Spanish professor.

The group will visit Lima, Paracas, Ica, Nazca, Cusco and Puno.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

Almost 300 Peruvians would benefit from the Master's scholarship programs in France and Italy, reported Luis Maezono Yamashita, the president of Strategic Alliance of Public Universities and rector of National University Agraria La Molina.

The announcement was made during the III International Fair of Scholarships, organized by Universia, a Latin American educational network intended for students, professors and graduates from universities and institutes.

Some 250 scholarships will be granted to study in French universities, while the rest (between 30 and 50) will be awarded for further studies in Italy.

According to Maezono, recipients will be prepared for careers in areas such as science, linguistics, humanities, art, design, medicine, health and biology.

These scholarships are possible by of Italy and France governments, as well as the Development Finance Corporation (Cofide).

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

Each Thursday from 4:30pm to 6 pm, youngsters from the populous district of Pueblo Nuevo, Chincha (200kms to the south of Lima, in the Ica region) have the chance to join the Reading in the Park Program, run by Promolibro, which allows them to discover the wonderful world of books.

This program (run by Mary Immaculate School), started in November of 2008.

From that date until April 2009, almost 2,000 children have been made familiar with the good habit of reading.

The program is conducted by Roxana Galvez Enciso, a school teacher, with the collaboration of "Casa de la Juventud de Chincha" (Chincha's House of Youth) which performs puppet shows, dances and other educational activities.

Volunteer students from the Ada Byron University at Chincha have joined this program, too.

The reading in the Park program is completely free.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

The Antamina Mining Fund (FMA) and the Fund for the Development of the Peruvian Education (FONDEP) presented the educative projects that  they will sponsored this year in Huari.

They also awarded 43 schools which participated in the contest "Reading with Free and Creative Expression”.

Some of the winning educative projects are ““Hatun Yachay” by Care Perú; “Jugando Aprendo” (I learn playing) by Right to Play Internacional; and “Fondo Concursable Lectura de Expresión Libre y Creativa” (Funds for Free and Creative Reading) by the Ministry of Education, among some others.

All the winning projects will be financed by the FMA, benefitting 434 schools and 26,000 students in Ancash.

It is remarkable that this contest was first launched in the whole region last year by FONDEP.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

Peruvian students Paul Callupe Correa (14), Jairo Landeo Panduro (15) and Yorch Sanchez Campos (13) won second place (silver medal) at the international science fair named “International Sustainable World”, held in the United States.

They were honored yesterday by The Regional Government of Junin and Chinalco mining company.

The Jorge Chavez school's students (Carhuamayo) received lap tops and were officially congratulated for their participation with a project called “Ichu: potencial de revegetacion en los Andes”(Ichu: possibility of replanting in the Andes).

The ichu is a Peruvian pasture that grows in the Andes.

“It do congratulate these young students and their teacher of this project; they are pride of the region and the country,” Junin Governor Vladimiro Huaroc said.

This international science fair reunited contestants from more than 60 countries.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivingInPeru
Isabel Guerra

Andina

A total of 2,400 laptop computers will be distributed, in the first half of April, among several public schools located in the jungle region of Ucayali, reported Congressman Jose Macedo Sanchez.

This donation will benefit 2,400 primary schools' students from Sepahua, Yurua, Campo Verde, Masisea, Curimana, Nueva Requena, Yarinacocha and Manatay districts.

The first delivery of laptops will be held on Saturday morning at the Nueva Alianza School and in the evening at the Nuevo San Juan School in the district of Manatay.

Finally, Macedo Sanchez pointed out that the 2009 goal is to benefit more than 5,000 students of this region.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivingInPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

The Fundación BBVA Banco Continental (BBVA Continental Bank Foundation) presented recently the new website Leer.pe (http://www.leer.pe) as a part of its social responsibility plan “Leer es estar adelante” (“To read is to have an advantage”).

This program is intended to motivate children to read and to improve their reading  skills and reading comprehension levels.

Leer.pe provides lively resources in reading and interactive academic help not only to students, but to school teachers and parents as well.

The webpage features the main characters of this program’s textbooks, in funny animations and voiced by popular Peruvian actors, such as Sergio Galliani (“Beto”), Giovanni Ciccia (“Coco”), Bruno Ascenzo (“Tito”), Gisela Ponce de León (“Nina”) and Stephanie Oré (“Pepa”).

The program has been already working since 2007 in Arequipa, Ayacucho, Lima, Loreto and Piura.

More than 13,000 Peruvian children have reportedly been benefitted by this program up to now.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

Living in Peru
Israel Ruiz

In the following days, a group of professionals from the region of Ancash will travel to the United States to study thanks to an agreement made between the Fulbright Foundation and Antamina Mining Company.

Last year a deal was signed by the Fulbright Commission in Peru and the Antamina Mining Fund to send five people from the region of Ancash to study at universities in the U.S.

The scholarship is to provide participants with tuition fees along with living costs. It was reported that this is the first time the Fulbright Commission has made an agreement of this nature with a private company.

After undergoing a series of tests and a rigorous selection process, it was decided that Julio Poterico, Jean Ortiz, Alejandro Garay, José Reynoso and Alberto Ramírez would study in the U.S.

These professionals are to further their studies at universities in Illinois, Ohio, South Carolina and Arkansas.

The five men stated they were extremely grateful and affirmed they would take full advantage of what the U.S. universities had to offer to return to Peru and share what they had learned.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

Living in Peru
Israel Ruiz

A congressional commission for disabled people has begun a campaign to raise funds to purchase the material necessary to teach 5,000 blind children in Peru how to read Braille.

There are half a million visually disabled people in Peru, this is 13 percent of the country's entire population, said a report released by EFE news.

Of this total, one hundred thousand are school-age children and adolescents that do not know how to read or write because their families do not have the means to teach them Braille, said Michael Urtecho, head of the parliament commission for disabled people.

Urtecho, who uses a wheelchair himself, explained that of the total number of blind people in Peru, 90 percent are illiterate because the country does not provide the tools needed to help them.

Faced with this problem, Urtecho has contacted a Brazilian company that manufactures this material and plans to purchase the supplies needed to teach 5,000 children Braille with donations.

It is hoped that the campaign "Hands that See", which is to last until April 5, will raise enough money to purchase the material to teach 5,000 children to read Braille.

A set of supplies for one child costs $10.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.