Insight Autumn Newsletter 2018

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Construction and Culture in Peru
A U T U M N T E R M 2 0 1 8
Senior School
Bancroft’s School, Woodford Green, Essex IG8 0RF
020 8505 4821
Preparatory School
Bancroft’s Preparatory School, Woodford Green, Essex IG8 0RF
020 8506 6774
InsightBancroft’s School Newsletter
Mr Richard Hays
The summer of 2018 saw 95
members of the Bancroft’s
community travel to Peru to be part
of one of the largest and most far-
reaching trips in the School’s history.
During three back-to-back trips
spanning just over seven weeks in
total, our pupils were able to: visit
the amazing, “lost” Inca settlement,
Machu Picchu; explore the Sacred
Valley of the Incas; spend time on
Lake Titicaca, the world’s highest
navigable lake: learn some Spanish;
learn more about the local culture
and sample the incredible Peruvian
gastronomy. However, the highlight
for many was their involvement
with Aldea Yanapay a local charity
helping to make a real and tangible
change in the rural community of
Lamay, an hour outside of Cusco.
Bancroft’s has tried to support the charity
financially for the last year or so, dedicating
two “Own Clothes Days” to the cause and
organising the unforgettable “All I Want
For Christmas For Peru” benefit evening in
December 2017 which will be making its
triumphant return later this term. In total,
we were able to send over £10,000 to Aldea
Yanapay in advance of the trip and staff
and children alike were delighted to see
that money spent directly on improving the
quality of life of those most in need, without
an overhead or bureaucratic expense in sight.
Bancroft’s remit during our time in Peru was to
help with the construction of six stand-alone
bathrooms so that families would no longer
expect the river, the community’s supply of
drinking water, to additionally serve as their
toilet, shower and washing machine. The work
was intense, laborious and difficult, but the
manner in which it was approached by our
pupils was nothing short of amazing. Some
discovered muscles they did not know existed
when carrying bags of cement up a steep hill
3399m above sea level. Others developed skills
that certainly hadn’t existed before – learning
to plaster, learning to use a sledgehammer or
learning to mix cement. The majority, however,
were tasked with digging the enormous holes
required for the bathrooms’ septic tanks on
a budget that could not afford a mechanical
digger and on terrain that could not have been
reached by one anyway. Pupils and staff alike
toiled away come rain or shine, quite literally
putting their blood, sweat and tears into the
work, in a way that was truly inspiring to
anyone who beheld it.
Inspiration was to be found in more than
just the physical labour, however. Many
were struck by the remarkable story of
Yuri Valencia, the charity’s founder and
director, who has dedicated almost all of his
life to his project and whose kindness, yet
determination, to see a real change in Peru
prompted many to declare that they would
definitely be returning to volunteer with
Aldea Yanapay again, whether that be with
the next school trip or of their own accord.
It was an extraordinary summer for
Bancroft’s and everyone involved with the
trip. The combination of breath-taking
sightseeing, fascinating cultural discovery,
no small amount of hard work and a
similar amount of soul-searching made for
an experience that few will ever forget.
Perhaps more importantly, however, it has
laid the platform for a mutually beneficial
relationship to exist between Bancroft’s and
Aldea Yanapay – a relationship that many
have already said they hope to see grow
stronger and stronger in the years to come.