Haley, Kate, Amber and Samantha are living and serving in Arequipa, the second-most populous city in Perú. The city of Arequipa, located in southern Perú, is surrounded by three volcanoes and is a popular tourist destination because of its beautiful natural scenery as well as its many colonial structures made of white volcanic stone.
Haley, Kate, and Amber are working at Centro de Educación Básica Alternativa Polivalente, a public secondary school for deaf students. Amber is also working three days a week teaching English to primary students at Colegio San Francisco Rojas, a private, Christian school. Samantha is working at Policlínico Vásquez, a private clinic offering services in general medicine, gynecology, gastroenterology, pulmonology and other specialities.
As the in-house math expert of the group, Kate spends a lot of time in one-on-one tutoring. Haley helps a student work through a math equation. One of the murals painted by students at CEBA Polivalente. Many of the students at Polivalente are coming from inclusion classroom settings in primary school where teachers were not equipped to help them. The academic levels among students vary widely. Amber helps in the math class as well as the communications class. Haley checks in on a student’s progress. Haley also works in the communications classroom, helping students with spelling and vocabulary.Kate explains an equation to a Polivalente student. Amber reviews an equation with a Polivalente student. Students at the school range in age from 14 to 22. Kate, Haley and Amber pose with Principal María Heredia Buiza and three members of the staff that they work with directly at CEBA Polivalente. Kate shows us her bedroom full of saints. Willy chats with Kate’s aunt and host mother. Kate lives on the outskirts of Arequipa and has a nice view of the surrounding green fields. Kate poses with her sister Lucero, great aunt Victoria and her mother Alicia. Haley with her sister Fanny, nephew Estiben, niece Marjory and mother Nelsi. Haley’s brother, Danilo, gave us a ride back to the hotel in his taxi. Amber spends three mornings a week working in the Kindergarten at Francisco Rojas school. Amber leads the Kindergarteners in a ball-passing game to practice their English vocabulary. Amber poses with her father Omar, mother Jessica and brothers Nico and Oliver. Samantha spends her work days at Policlínico Vásquez.Samantha preps a patient for his injection. And in it goes!Samantha works directly with Dr. Armando Vásquez, founder of the clinic. Samantha’s host family treated us to hot chocolate and panetón, a traditional sweet bread.Samantha is surrounded by her father Juan Carlos, her mother Dolly, her sister Valentina and her brother Joaquin. The group enjoys some Italian food and fruit juice.
