Beginning of 2011: Stefanie and Valérie are volunteering in Peru. They fall in love with Peruvian culture and are touched by the children they work with on the project.
April – October 2012: Development of the idea to establish a nursery project in Peru. The first steps are being taken: creating a website, making Oye LENA known to the public through Facebook and flyers, looking for sponsors and getting in touch with schools.
October – December 2012: Start of the preparations on the ground: looking for a location, making Oye LENA an official Peruvian ngo, other administrative tasks.
January 2013: The first volunteers help start up the project.
February 2013: Oye LENA is an official ngo. The project welcomes the first twenty toddlers in temporary classrooms mid-February. Four students and three volunteers teach from 9 AM to 5 PM.
March 2013: Start of the official school year in Peru. Legislation on compulsory education for toddlers becomes stricter: toddles now have to go to school. Parents are motivated and supported in their search for a suitable nursery school. Oye LENA decides to intensively work together with a school for special education and makes the first contacts with nursery schools in Curahuasi.
May 2013: A Peruvian teacher is hired. Classes are prepared and given together with the person responsible for the project and volunteers.
June 2013: All of the toddlers are (finally) enrolled in local nursery schools. They go to their local nursery school in the morning and in the afternoon they come to Oye LENA.
July 2013: Oye LENA creates 3 educational subprojects:
Oye YACHAQ: Oye LENA comes to an agreement with seven nursery schools to work together. The aim is to create better education together. First, the parties involved get to know each other and observations are carried out in the various schools.
Oye INTI WARMI: Oye LENA accepts INABIF as one of the projects with which it will closely work together. Volunteers help at INABIF and at the school for special education in the morning.
Oye NENE: Oye LENA’s own after-school kindergarten project. This project is put on hold for three months so that volunteers can help building the final classrooms, moving into the new building and furnishing it.
End of September 2013: Start of the project in the new building. New children are expected to join: children who do not live in town and grow up in underprivileged families where alcoholism and domestic violence are the order of the day.
Beginning of October 2013: Start of the Oye YACHAQ workshops: Monthly meetings of headmasters and kindergarten teachers, during which educational topics are discussed and free educational material is made.
Oye LENA 