Latin American Foundation for the Future (LAFF) is a UK-registered charity supporting marginalised children in Peru as a partner organisation, and the local organisations which work with them.
Volunteering Activities
What We Need
General skills needed to volunteer with LAFF:
- Basic to advanced Spanish language skills are required for many of our positions.
- Undergraduate/postgraduate study and/or work in related fields.
- Minimum 6 months working or volunteering in related fields.
- Commitment and passion for working in an international development context.
- Ability to work and live in a culturally diverse environment.
- Excellent interpersonal and written communication skills.
- Excellent time management skills.
- Highly organised, flexible, independent, culturally sensitive, detail oriented with the ability to multitask.
- Report writing skills.
- Knowledge of MS Office.
We are looking for a Fundraising Officer, as we aim to increase funds from a range of fundraising strategies in order to financially support LAFF's activities.
Jobs include:
- Planning, developing and administering fundraising activities.
- Preparing and updating fundraising strategies.
- Researching and drafting potential funding opportunities.
- Ensure all current donors are well-informed of project progress through reports.
- Ensure that fundraising practices reflect LAFF's ideology.
- Network and forge links with relevant stakeholders and organisations to ensure continued support.
Requirements:
- Experience/good knowledge of social media usage.
We are also looking for an International Partnerships Assistant, who would provide support across all of LAFF's projects and work closely with our local partners in Peru.
Jobs include:
- Providing administrative and logistical support.
- Organising and scheduling meetings and events when necessary.
- Designing and delivering workshops when relevant.
- Conducting research, markets and baselines studies.
- Developing and carrying out surveys.
- Identifying new potential partners.
- Visit projects to follow up progress on activities.
Requirements:
- Administrative/research skills/experience.
The communication strategy consists of producing and disseminating information, blogs, newsletters and posts through LAFFs website, social networks.
Jobs include:
- Panning, developing and administering communications.
- Preparing and updating a communications strategy identifying objectives, messages, audiences, and products.
- Producing, disseminating and quality control for public information and electronic communications.
- Promoting a better understanding and awareness of socioeconomic realities and LAFFs programmes.
- Ensuring that communication practices reflect LAFF's priorities and mission.
- Networking and forging links with stakeholders and organisations.
Requirements:
- Experience/good knowledge of social media usage.
We need a Monitoring and Evaluations Advisor to lead all M&E activities for LAFF, and collaborate with our partners.
Jobs include:
- Identifying M&E needs.
- Developing and maintaining a project M&E database system and a PMP.
- Designing strategies for strengthening data collection, interpretation and use.
- Assessing and improving the existing M&E systems, indicators and tools used by our partners.
- Reviewing reporting from our partners and LAFF.
- Providing training and building M&E capacity.
- Performing regular internal performance evaluations and surveys.
Requirements:
- Knowledge and experience in strategic planning/performance measurement, indicator selection, quantitative/qualitative data analysis methodologies, database management, impact evaluation & research methodologies.
- Knowledge of Results-Based M&E, logic models, and log frameworks.
We need a Vocational Training and Career Guidance Programme Coordinator. The main goal of this programme is to equip children and young people with relevant soft skills (communication, language, interpersonal); life skills (decision making, critical thinking, problem solving, creative thinking); basic (English and Maths) and technical skills. Intended to increase economic opportunities, technical skills training targets young people aged 14 to 25 and responds to the labour market demand in order to guarantee internship opportunities, business start ups and/or job placements.
Jobs include:
- Identifying (through participatory techniques) the needs/requirements for vocational training and career guidance for beneficiaries of LAFF’s partner organisations.
- In collaboration with our partners and through participatory techniques, identifying suitable trainees.
- In collaboration with our partners, develop budgets, planning and implementing life and technical skills training programmes.
- In collaboration with our partners, develop budgets, planning and implementing the LAFF career guidance programme.
- Identifying training providers (institutions, training centres, businesses and/or experts) and establishinh MoU’s or agreements when possible.
- Identifying internships, short work experience and job placement opportunities for young people.
- Networking and forging links with other stakeholders and organisations (including local government, donors, companies and other supporters) to ensure continued support for existing and new initiatives.
- Continuing to develop a data base of training providers and other private/public sectors partners or potential partners.
- Monitoring and evaluate the results and impact of the vocational training and career guidance programme and submit progress reports.
Requirements:
- Minimum of 1 year of volunteering and/or work experience. Field and/or international development experience, as well as experience implementing vocational training programmes desirable.
- Budget development, administrative skills and financial management experience preferred.
When & Who
More Services we Offer
What you will receive:
- Pre-departure and in-country support.
- The opportunity to be apart of the LAFF Ambassador program.
- Once in a life time experience.
- Professional references and recommendations.
Volunteers are expected to cover all their own costs – including flights, visas and insurance. Living costs vary depending on where you are based and will roughly total between £75 – £150 a month (for a room in an apartment), and £200 – £250 a month (for a one/two bed private apartment), plus around £30 a week for food. Maximum daily travel costs to projects are 40p a day. Return flights to Peru usually cost around £800 – £1000 from the UK, $500-$800 US or $1200 - $1400 AUD, depending on time of year and length of stay.
Contact Person
Other Ways to Help
- Educational supplies, such as pens, pencils, notepads, folders, calculators.
- Computers for education.
- Clothes for children.
- Funding for secondary education scholarships, for social enterprise and NGO ongoing costs.
Additional Info about Us
What sort of people are LAFF looking for?
LAFF is looking for self-starters who take the initiative and have a desire to help alleviate poverty in the world. As LAFF is a small team and we only have one member of paid staff based in Latin America, candidates need to be motivated, independent, dedicated and already speak a good level of Spanish. LAFF expects volunteers to take their work as seriously as they would a paid job, working 5 days a week and requesting any holidays in advance.
Importantly, it is preferable if those volunteers with laptops bring their own as LAFF only one accessible for volunteer use. Please discuss with the IPM if you require the use of this laptop in advance.
LAFF believes in creating independence, not dependence. This is crucial in our partner approach to both children and young people, and the organisations which directly support them. We also believe in sustainability, and aim to achieve it for those we help through educating and empowering our local partners. We achieve this by supporting our partner organisations and this help takes the form of capacity-building, technical training as well as income-generation and cost reduction activity. In this way we help street, working and vulnerable children to thrive, supporting them into adulthood with a good education, life skills, employable skills and a sense of self-worth.
LAFF is a primarily volunteer-led organisation, which relies on volunteer support in the UK, online and in Peru to help us continue our work.
At the present time LAFF partners with 5 organisations in Lima and Cusco. Two of our partner organisations in Cusco are homes and/or shelters for street boys and teenage mothers, while the other two provide school term home for girls who do not have access to education due to their remote locality. The last partner provides education initiatives for gang children in Lima. Our support for these partners is focused on education based initiatives, however we have helped to fund and initiate well-being projects for many of our partners when needed.
Both AFID and LAFF were very informative and supportive prior to my departure which helped me prepare for my volunteer assignment. This gave me an idea of what to expect of both becoming a volunteer & living in Cusco, including the cost of living. I paid US$50 per week to rent my own room in a shared house, including all utilities and wifi. I spent approximately US$40 a week on food which involved eating out at restaurants as well as purchasing food from the markets to make at home. I felt safe and comfortable in my accommodation and in Cusco in general.
My role with LAFF is to provide them with accounting & bookkeeping services and financial reporting & advice. I continue to do this on a remote basis since returning to my job after the 6 week assignment.
Whilst in Cusco I also had the opportunity to meet some of LAFF's beneficiaries and see for myself the huge difference that LAFF's support makes to these children's lives. This made me realise how the time spent volunteering for LAFF is extremely worthwhile and how much of a difference the volunteers work and skills make. The beneficiaries of LAFF are extremely inspiring. I was expecting some wild behaviour from these children as a result of lack of education & support. However, they were in fact very mature & sweet for their age. Many of them would come up & give you a massive hug to greet us & have big smiles on their faces when we visited. This showed their appreciation for LAFF's support and was very rewarding.
Cusco itself is an amazing & interesting city with a lot of culture to learn about. There is so much to experience there other than the obvious Machu Picchu. Even just the flight into Cusco airport over the Andes Mountains is a unique experience. The difference between experiencing Cusco as a volunteer rather than as a backpacker is that you learn more about the real Cusco rather than just the tourist side of it (which disguises the poverty) and you have the chance to make a difference to the less fortunate. Being part of a team with other volunteers also makes it easier to form friendships and you can also benefit from contacts which LAFF has with other organisations in Cusco.
As well as going to Machu Picchu and visiting many other Inca ruins, I did a trip to Puno and Lake Titicaca and climbed Rainbow Mountain (all with the other volunteers), which were all incredible experiences. The programme manager was very flexible with regards to amending our working days to accommodate for any 2-3 day trips we wanted to do.
I found Cusco very inexpensive for everything, especially accommodation costs and food. Accommodation is easy enough to find and most things are within walking distance if you stay within the central area. I took the opportunity to learn Spanish by taking classes twice a week. Being able to speak just basic Spanish made living in Cusco a whole lot easier for day to day things like communicating with taxi drivers and when purchasing food at markets. I also treated myself to regular massages since they were only $8 per hour! There are of course a some not so good things in Cusco including the altitude and the not very reliable hot water supply, however, you get used to the altitude & learn to deal with lukewarm showers.
Overall, I would highly encourage undertaking a volunteer role with LAFF in Cusco. It is a very worthy cause and was a very memorable experience for me!"