Mel’s Experience Volunteering at Valley Camp
My name is Mel, and I would like to share my experience living in the Sacred Valley and volunteering with Valley Camp during my travels in South America.
The path that led me to the Sacred Valley
In January 2022 I finished my studies in Biochemistry of Natural Products in England and decided to travel in South America. I wanted to follow my love of Nature and explore a continent that is a lot wilder than the English countryside where I am from and to see what opportunities appeared along the way. After travelling in Argentina and Brazil, I headed to Perú, looking for an opportunity to volunteer with a project whose values aligned with mine, aiming to help nurture a connection with and care for Nature. Valley Camp was the perfect match.
Living and teaching in Urquillos
After arriving in the Sacred Valley, I was introduced to Cole York, the founder and director of Valley Camp. I met her at a session for new community volunteers who would be going into local schools to spread Valley Camp’s message: to nurture youths’ relationship with self, community, and Pachamama, and engage more children with environmental education. It was just what I had been looking for!
Cole introduced me to Jackie and her family, frequent participants of Valley Camp activities. Jackie’s family lives on a farm in Urquillos, a peaceful village nestled at the foot of the mountains of the Sacred Valley. They agreed to let me stay in their guest house and kindly accepted me into their family. Every Monday and Wednesday I helped in the local primary school where I lead three classes of children between the ages of 6 and 12. Each volunteer was able to create a vision for these classes, so I decided to teach natural sciences through art, encouraging children to connect with Nature through exploration and curiosity. For example, we made plant pots from recycled bottles and planted sunflower seeds, we explored Urquillos to find different plants and mosses, then learned about their parts and lifecycles and painted them with watercolours! This amazing volunteer activity with Valley Camp really reinforced my belief in the value of connecting children with nature.
Eco Leaders camp
My favourite part of volunteering with Valley Camp was helping with ‘Eco Líderes,’ a camp for teenagers focused on leadership and environmental education. We had a diverse group which brought together children from high-Andean communities, the city of Cusco and international children from families who live in the area while travelling the globe. We camped in the garden of a private home in Urubamba, visited a sustainable farm in the Valley, baked Conny’s healthy treats, made mini-composters, rock climbed, and shared stories. All activities aimed to encourage our next generation of Eco Leaders, who will be so key to creating positive change in the world we live in today!
Painting a mural
Another opportunity I am grateful to have had during my time working with Valley Camp was painting a mural for the Valley Camp office in Urubamba. With support from Richard, a local artist, who helped me get started, the mural came out just as I had imagined! I wanted to encapsulate Valley Camp’s work with a campground and kids learning to climb, against a backdrop of Chicón, the mountain that looks over Urubamba. Thank you, Cole, for the trust!
My overall experience with Valley Camp
I will treasure the memories and teachings from my volunteer experience with Valley Camp. It was a steep learning curve for me, my first time being responsible for a whole class of kids and learning to teach in Spanish! But it was a pleasure to work within a group of like-minded people, helping nurture regenerative, ecological thinkers, and to be inspired by the children who live on the farms in the Andean communities. Hopefully, I can take these experiences with me and help connect children with Nature back in the UK too!