Volunteers on Call was the first humanitarian organization to provide aid in the communities of Sinchicuy, San Juan de Guashalado and Yagua along the Amazon River of Peru in September 2004. Made possible through the General Board of Global Ministries of the Methodist Church, VOC partnered with the First Sinchicuy School Project, headed by Willy Huaycama.

The goal of this trip was to establish a local partnership in this region of Peru, to learn the needs, gather facts as well as statistics about these communities for future volunteer assistance. Findings are posted on VOC’s August/September 2004 and 4th Quarter 2004 Newsletters.

Under challenging situations such as no potable water, no electricity, no cars, no roads, no medical assistance, etc. this first-ever team worked with over one hundred school children introducing them to the English language using phonetics and working with objects familiar to the native population.

This service project prompted VOC to establish SELVA Visionaries a program spearheaded by Alexandra Hochreiter and focusing on serving this region. VOC returned in May 2005 to work with a group of doctors distributing medicines, providing medical care and building a school.

VOC’s focus in the Amazon of Peru is on the following areas:

- Health Education and Preventative Measures Against Disease
- Teaching English, as a means to provide a livelihood and reduce poverty
- Micro-Enterprise, assisting in self sufficiency through sales of locally produced items such as gift cards made by the children of Sinchicuy which are available for purchase on VOC’s website store

Several volunteers have now worked in this region, thanks to the pioneering efforts of Volunteers on Call.

Depending on the time of year the cost of participating in this mission trip can range from $1,500-$1,700 for 10 days, all inclusive.