The last week I have been doing some volunteering at CIMA (www.cimahope.org) in the outskirts of Lima. I have to take two crammed buses in the morning and then a little moto (basically a motorbike with a couple of seats attached to the back) to the home. The journey there takes about two hours in total. The home itself is quite big and quite modern. Not really what I was expecting. I was pleasantly surprised. On my first day there, I was met by Anna, a bright-blond haired lady from Switzerland who has worked at CIMA for several years. She immediately put me at ease and showed me around the site telling me all about what they do there for the boys.

CIMA truly is amazing. They look after boys aged from 8 to 18 and give them skills that will be useful in their lives (if they manage to get jobs - unemployment in Peru is a real problem). There are several "workshops" that the boys can get involved with. There is a farm, carpentry, a technical workshop, which teaches the boys skills like plumbing, metalwork, welding, electrical work, and so on, a textiles workshop and a crafts workshop. The boys also have music lessons, IT, a gym and a whole range of other things on the site. There is even a dentists room (fully kitted out) and a doctors. Its quite an amazing place for the boys.

Whilst I've been there, I've been helping out with some of the music lessons. The boys are so enthusiastic to learn and so positive. They pick things up so quickly its unbelievable. I've taught one of the boys, Willer, to play a few little tunes like fur elise, jingle bells, we wish you a merry christmas, titanic. CIMA has a band too, that are really something else! They are so musically talented and so into their playing it's great. They've even been banned from some of the local competitions because they are so good (a shame really because the boys need that kind of boost but it's a sort of testament to their skill).

Also I've had the opportunity to speak a little more Spanish (and hopefully learn a little more) and to teach a little bit of English and a bit about England to the boys. They're always interested to learn about where the country is, what the currency is, etc. I really want to improve my Spanish some more so I can converse with them a little better another time but not enough time now unfortunately.

Tomorrow is my last day at the home and I'm quite sad to leave especially having been there for such a short time. I hope that I'll get to go back one day soon for longer but in the mean time I hope that I might be able to do a little fundraising for the centre when I get back to Britain. It really is a worthy cause and they are unfortunately always short of money. The second day I was there, I was rushed off to a fundraising event in the nearby town called Cieneguille. Its actually a rather rich town, where lots of the Peruvian rich live to escape the city.

Anyway, I ended up at a huge house with massive grounds, swimming pool etc for a local man's birthday where he had requested that his friends gave a donation to CIMA instead of buying him a present. Everyone else was all very smartly dressed whereas I was in tracksuit bottoms, t-shirt, etc. I did feel mildly out of place for all of 5 minutes before I was introduced as "el voluntario" and everyone made me feel very at home and welcome. The party was lovely - food was amazing, Pisco Sours were great and then they started bringing out instruments, etc. I had to leave quite early unfortunately, to make my way back into Lima before nightfall - two hours on a bus again!

I've loved my time at CIMA and it has been quite a humbling experience. To think that these kids really don't have a whole lot in life but can be happy really makes you wonder whether we have things right back home. It's definitely an experience that I won't forget and I think everyone should have at least once in their life to make them realise how lucky they are.