FUNDACION POR LOS NINOS DE PERU ::: Iquitos is Peru's largest jungle town and gateway to the Amazon rainforest. It is the largest township in the world that is not accessible by road. Although we had volunteers in Iquitos a few years ago this is only the second year we have had volunteers in this project, so it is still a new and exciting project for Project Trust, and out first Peruvian jungle project for a number of years. Iquitos is located on the banks of the river Amazon and is only accessible by boat and plane as it is so far into the Amazon Jungle. It is an important town as it is from here that a lot of fruit, wood, rubber and other produce is exported. It is an excellent place to be based to explore the surrounding jungle, take trips into the forest and boat trips on the Amazon to see wildlife and visit remote indigenous villages. [The Project] The project is a government run orphanage. It houses between 80 - 90 children aged from just a few months old to 12 years old. All the children have been placed there by the state. Few are actually orphans but all have been put into the home due to family problems such as poverty, abuse, drug use etc. The children live in family units of mixed age and sex. Each unit has 8- 10 children and a "mum" who looks after them full time. Each group lives in a separate house. As well as the mums the home also employs a nurse, a nutritionist, a cook, a social worker, a couple of doormen, a store man, a secretary, and then the Director and his wife. All the children attend school in the morning apart from a few very young children. The home has reasonable facilities, e.g. a play area with swings etc., a football ground, a small orchard and a pond. There is also a games room that volunteers run for a few hours every week and a library that they also help with. [The Work] AM - Vols get kids up, serve them breakfast, and help get them off to school. They then have free time to prepare activities until the kids return home at 1pm.PM - help serve lunch then help kids with their homework. There are also good opportunities to teach English to the kids and organise activities with them. Such as sport, music, drama etc.Volunteers live in a small self-contained house in the grounds of the project. Vols will have separate rooms, a lounge area, a private bathroom and a small kitchenette. It is ideal for volunteers. [Check out their website here]