Bryce, Sharada, Jehan and Yejin are living in Arequipa, the second-most populous city in Perú, with just over 1 million inhabitants. The city of Arequipa is located in southwestern Perú, between the coastal desert and the Western Andes. It 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 called sillar.
Bryce is building a website for Policlínico Vásquez, a private clinic that has been a long-time partner of Goshen College’s service program. Sharada is assisting with physical therapy for children through Medical Mission International (MMI). Jehan is working at Hogar San Luis Gonzaga, a home for boys run by Inabif, a government agency working for the well-being of families, with a focus on at-risk children, adolescents and seniors. Yejin works with the youth orchestra in Arequipa’s chapter of Sinfonía por el Perú.
Bryce stands in front of Policlínico Vásquez, a private clinic offering services in general medicine, gynecology, gastroenterology, pulmonology and other specialities. Bryce has a workspace on the second floor of the clinic where he arrives daily to work on the website. He is also available to problem-solve occasional computer issues that arise at the clinic. Bryce shows his work on the website so far. He has the layout of the site nearly completed and will be adding the informational content in the remaining weeks. One of his priorities is to make sure it is very easy for clinic staff to add and change information.Bryce poses with office manager Ivonne. Grimaldina treated us to one of Arequipa’s most famous dishes — rocoto relleno. Spicy peppers are hollowed out, filled with meat, cheese and spices, and baked in the oven.Bryce stands with host sister Karelia, mother Grimaldina, and father Guillermo. Leah checks out a sculpture that Bryce’s brother, Edwin, was working on when we arrived. Bryce stands outside his room where he has a great view of Arequipa’s iconic volcano, Misti. Jehan’s work site, Hogar San Luis Gonzaga, has four group houses for the 40 boys who live at the center. This house, where Jehan spends his afternoons, has 10 boys, ages 9-12. The house includes 4 boys with special needs. Bryce’s host nephew, Joaquin, and Aaron take a break from playing hide-and-seek to pose with Bryce. Jehan sits in one of the boys’ rooms. Boys live in groups of two or three, or alone, according to their needs. In addition to providing a safe place for the boys to live and grow, the center also has a psychologist and social worker on staff, and offers some technical training for the boys, many of whom are in their upper teens. Jehan stands here with one of four tutors who alternate living at the house. During his time there, Jehan helps the boys with their homework, plays table games and listens to music with them. Because of the nature of the boys’ family situations, photos of the residents are not permitted. Jehan hangs out in the room being loaned to him by his host brother for these six weeks. Willy, Jehan and his host brother, Gustavo, discuss Jehan’s adventure with the tuna cactus over some manzanilla tea. Jehan poses with his host brother, Gustavo, and his host mom, Nelia. Sharada stands at the entrance of Medical Mission International (MMI) Physical Therapy Center. The center has 8 therapists and sees over 200 children a week. Sharada holds a toy for Jhon Piero while his therapist helps support his head and arm.He enjoys the pop-up surprise!Daniel works to lift the rings over Sharada’s head. He takes a short break to admire Sharada’s nail polish. Sharada squeezes onto the couch with her host family — brother Joaquin, father Juan Carlos, mother Dolly, and sister Valentina. High five for a job well done!Yejin stands outside the school where Sinfonía por el Perú runs its Arequipa chapter. Sinfonía por el Perú was started 7 years ago by world-famous Peruvian tenor, Juan Diego Flórez. Its purpose is to provide free access to high-quality music instruction for children in at-risk communities. Yejin assists violin instructor, Gloria. Gloria is responsible for over 35 violin students. There are more than 70 violin students in the program overall. Yejin helps two students tune their violins. During the first part of her day, Yejin works with students in violin class, both one-on-one and in smaller groups. After violin class, Yejin assists the violin section during the two-hour orchestra rehearsal. Yejin poses with members of her host family: mother Nadia, and brothers Mauricio and Mateo. The Arequipa SSTers meet up for some lunch near the Plaza de Armas.
