Volunteers will be an essential part during the development of the Pan American and Parapan American Games, scheduled to start on July 26. Although we are less than 40 days away from the start of the Lima 2019 Games, the volunteers have already started to work.
In-person training started on February until late March where they were given general information. That was followed by on-line training and, starting on June, by in-person specific training.
Enthusiasm is one of the main features shown by the Lima 2019 volunteers. Milco made a surprise visit during the training session held at the National University of San Marcos to motivate them.
These specific training sessions are in charge of the Lima 2019 Volunteer Training Area and UNOPS. They, along with each functional area, provide the volunteers with the theory involving their future work.
The content is mainly focused on case studies, that is real-life situations that could happen during the Games and figuring out how to solve them. One of the goals is also to help answer any questions the volunteers may have.
There are training sessions scheduled for all Lima 2019 functional areas, such as: Protocol, Press Operations, Venue Management, Accreditation, Village Management, Sports, Staff, Accommodation, Arrivals and Departures, Transportation, Medical Services, Anti-doping Control, Spectator Services, IT, Uniforms and Marketing, among the main areas.
There will be future specific training sessions at the venues with rehearsals and recognition of the stages. This way, volunteers will be more familiar with the space they will be assigned, and they will be able to interact with people from their area and other functional areas working in the same venue.
The Lima 2019 Volunteer Program started on September 11, 2018. A total of 100 094 Peruvians and foreign people showed their interest in participating in the largest multi-sport event in the continent by pre-registering to be volunteers at the Games.
The Games will have a total of 19 000 volunteers. 12 000 will be participating in the Pan American Games and 7 000 in the Parapan American Games.
The Volunteer Program will be a unique experience for their participants, who will be part of the most important sports event in Peruvian history. It will also have an important social legacy since it will strengthen the volunteer culture in our country.