One of MySmallHelp’s main projects in the Sacred Valley is a bus, which provides school transportation to a group of 11 special needs children. These children, who are from Ollantaytambo and its surrounding areas, attend the amazing Arco Iris School in Urubamba. For these children, Arco Iris is their only educational option. The school not only provides the children with lifeskills training and encourages them to realize how much they are capable of, but also gives them access to a social worker, psychologist, and a warm lunch every day. It has been amazing to see the difference the school has made in each child.

The children live up to a 40-minute drive away from the school, so it is often impossible for their parents to take them every day (if they are lucky enough to have parents who value their education). Some are in wheelchairs and our youngest is an adorable 3 year old with downs syndrome, who needs to be held by someone to and from school. Transportation is therefore a large challenge, but MSH believes that if overcoming this one obstacle can make such a difference in their lives, it’s well worth it. Our bus therefore picks up each child at or near their house, and drops them off at the end of the day.

Of course, the project has evolved to be much more than a simple school bus. MySmallHelp liaises between the school and the families, communicating about schedules and other matters that arise at school. Our hilarious and patient driver Ruben makes every drive an interesting one, and together he and the children deal with road closures, locked houses and whatever else is thrown their way.

This is of course where volunteers come to play a huge role in supporting this important project. We need to take attendance everyday to have a record of which children are actually using the bus, and to make sure we take home everyone we brought in. We coordinate with the parents about school holidays, what clothes the kids need to wear for their frequent parades and when the parents need to accompany their kids for medical campaigns or other events. With 11 special needs children together on a bus, someone is also needed to keep order, making sure that all arms and heads are inside the bus and that everyone is getting along. MSH depends on our volunteers to make sure that the bus runs smoothly- they are an integral part of our success. We have loved having Lulu, a teacher from England, helping us throughout the month of November and will miss her when she goes!

We fund the bus partly through private donations. In an effort to work with the local government and to make the bus more sustainable, MSH has partnered with the municipality of Ollantaytambo. They generously offered to take over half of the cost, but the Peruvian bureaucratic machine moves slowly, and they are currently 3 months behind in their payments. This has obviously been a huge challenge for MSH. We have been supplementing the cost with small, in-country fundraising activities but are looking for a more permanent funding source to ensure that this project continues.