Mary Donohue - House Manager and Volunteer

Hi everyone. My name’s Mary Donohue. I’m a current Para el Mundo (PaM) volunteer and the House Manager of the PaM house in Máncora, Peru. I’m going to be contributing a little something every week to the Voluntraveler blog to give everyone a little insight into life in Máncora. 

I’ve been living here since September 2008 and absolutely love it. I work with the Ministry of Health’s Dengue and Malaria Prevention Program that operates out of the local government-run health clinic. Because our work consists of inspecting people’s water deposits for signs of mosquito larvae, I have probably been in about 75% of the homes in town and have therefore gotten to meet tons of great people. 

The people in Máncora are wonderful and many have made me feel like part of the community. If anyone has any questions about volunteering, Máncora, living in Peru, or anything at all, please don’t hesitate to contact me by responding to my posts!

PaM/Voluntraveler House in Mancora Peru

This is a video slideshow of the accommodation used by our volunteers in Mancora Peru. 

Life in the volunteer house

Living in Mancora is a bit of a transition. It's a different culture and pace of life. The volunteer house is a place where everyone can chill after a day of work and decompress. My favorite place in the house is on the wrap around balcony. You can sit there for hours and people watch from the second level. There is often a soccer game on the street with the neighborhood kids and it seems like once a week there is a procession that goes by.

I always felt like the volunteers were like a family. We take turns cooking and cleaning and maybe I've just been lucky, but every time I'm there the other volunteers are amazing cooks.

The house is nice and secure and has a lot of amenities like the PaM computer and surf boards. I like that we live in the local end of town away from all the tourist spots. We're close enough to walk anywhere in town, but our location makes me feel like a part of the community.