Sara, EU Aid Volunteers in Peru

On 18 July of 2019 I arrived in Lima, Perú, that received me with a grey sky and a typical winter humidity. From the day after, I started my project of Eu Aid Volunteer in the Association Paz y Esperanza, beginning to work on Positive Discipline in the area of child protection. The activities are developing well, the relationship with the tutor and colleagues get me to grow up personally and professionally.

It is in this context that Coronavirus arrived in Perú. It was 6 march of 2020 when the first case of contagious is determined. Soon, it spread rapidly in the whole of Lima and regions. As a run against time, ten días laters, the president Martín Vizcarra declared the State of Sanitary Emergency with lockdown for all the people within the Peruvian territory and closed internal and external borders.
Covid-19 did not knock on the door and ask for permission.

It got into everyone’s lives without giving the time of getting ready. Suddenly, everyone had to change their everyday routine and the way of managing relationships with other people. With protective measures, all projects that were developed face-to-face were suspended and relocated in a virtual way. Everything changed and was oriented to face the Covid-19 emergency that has invaded the Country.

The colleagues of the child protection team and me, with the support of other organizations, such as Save the Children, Acción por los Niños and Municipality of Lima, started to develop workshops and talks of Positive Discipline in a virtual way. This was a great opportunity to keep on the spread of respectful child-rearing, with the goal of helping parents to teach children respecting human rights, in particular in the current situation. Additionally, with the Municipality collaboration, we are developing a FB live program, called Transformando Escuelas, to talk about relevant items.
The team worked on a cartoon production, about a prince’s infancy and his relationship with his parents. This movie was adapted, including Positive Discipline elements, and produced by Paz y Esperanza

It is a great resource for us, giving online workshops and talks.
The Association, with other local and international organizations, is developed a sensibilization campaign in order to spread some tips on stress management between adults and children. Feeling of anxiety, craving, incertitude are a big challenge to manage, particularly of who lost its job and is living the overcrowded.
Paz y Esperanza always believed in the children’s participation that helps the community to grow up and develop in human rights items. For this reason, with the children-organization collaboration, we wrote a letter asking the president Vizcarra to talk with boys and girls and listen to their needs and opinions. 

The current situation in Perú is really complicated: public hospitals is collapsed, the oxygen is missing and the economy is falling down. A Country without an efficiently public system and a public pension system has a lot of problems and it seems that Perú is losing the battle against Coronavirus.
Paz y Esperanza and all organizations in Perú, are searching the way to help and support the population who can not stay at home and endure the situation. It is needed to go outside to work and to buy something to eat for sons and daughters. Thus, it is needed to never give up, keep on the fight, and work in order to, despite the current situation, respect human rights.