We are excited to invite your students to register for the Round Square International Service Project in Peru, December 2026, in collaboration with Markham College.
Since 2022, students from Markham College have been working with local NGO, Andar, to construct houses for families living in extreme poverty in Cañete, a province located approximately 140 km south of Lima, and an area significantly impacted by the Pisco earthquake of 2007.
In December up to 60 students and 10 adults will come together for this RSIS Project to work in partnership with Markham College and the local community. Their mission will be to build 15 houses in 10 days, each of which will provide long-term security for families living in extreme poverty. Each home will be made up of three separate rooms, an elevated floor, windows and a thermally insulated roof.
Participation in a RSIS Project enables students to learn-by-doing about how they can make a positive difference in the world. The experience pushes them outside their comfort zone, brings them face-to-face with the realities of extreme poverty, and into contact with the warmth and generosity of the community in which each project takes place. The experience also challenges students in supportive ways, enabling them to grow through shared experience, reflection and hard work. They will make friends from around the world, grow in confidence and international understanding, and exercise a range of skills and qualities including teamwork, communication, problem solving, inventiveness, tenacity, courage and compassion. Participation in this programme also meets the requirements of the Gold Residential section of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award.
Students apply individually to join a RSIS Project, and participate without an accompanying adult from their school. As part of the experience, they will fly unaccompanied from their home country to Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima where they will be met by Round Square’s Project Leadership Team.
You can find out more about how RSIS Projects work on the Round Square website by clicking on the button below. Additional resources will be added over the coming days to assist you in advertising this RSIS Project and sharing more information with with your students.