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✨ Small sparks can create lasting change.
Our second STARRY Humanitarian Aid Volunteer Team in Peru has completed their 59-day journey of solidarity, learning and intercultural exchange! ❤️
Coming from five different countries, Hana Sušánková and Frantisek Z. from Czechia, Paulina Kaleta from Poland, Mohammadreza Bidgoli from the Netherlands, Paula Muñoz Reyes from Portugal and Marion Paris from France joined our hosting partner Brigada de Voluntarios Bolivarianos del Peru (BVBP) and worked together with children and young people in schools around Lima.
Throughout their activity, the team designed and facilitated interactive educational workshops on non-violent communication, bullying and cyberbullying, stereotypes, equality, emotions, empathy, goal setting, future planning and critical thinking. Through games, discussions, reflection and creative activities, they encouraged young people to express themselves, recognise their emotions, communicate with respect and think about their futures from new perspectives.
Their work also became a beautiful space for intercultural exchange. Students were curious about the volunteers’ countries, languages and journeys, while our volunteers discovered Peruvian culture and learned from the communities they met. The team also spent time with elderly people, joining music, dance and traditional activities and sharing moments across cultures and generations.
As several volunteers reflected in their reports, the impact of a short-term activity cannot always be measured in numbers. But sometimes change begins with one conversation, one new idea, one child asking a different question or seeing another possibility. ✨
The experience transformed the volunteers too—strengthening their confidence, adaptability, teamwork, communication and facilitation skills while challenging them to navigate cultural differences and unfamiliar situations with patience and empathy.
Thank you to our six volunteers for bringing their ideas, energy and humanity to STARRY, and to our host BVBP for welcoming and supporting the team. ❤️
The activity was coordinated by EPEKA, also acting as a sending organisation, together with our partner sending organisation Asociacion Building Bridges (BBA), Spain.
59 days may be short, but the connections, questions and little sparks we leave behind can travel much further. ✨
#STARRY #HumanitarianAid #EuropeanSolidarityCorps #ESC #Volunteering #Solidarity #YouthEmpowerment #InterculturalLearning #Peru #EPEKA
