San Ramon, gateway to Peru’s central rain forest, is home to 30,000 people. Life at 770 meters (about 2500 feet) above sea level is calm and relaxed; the weather is hot and sunny most of the time, with rain showers every few days to cool down the temperature and…
Oxapampa is a charming city of 10,000 inhabitants located in the lush green foothills of the Andes, some 1,800 meters (5,905 feet) above sea level. Settled in 1891 by a group of colonists who originated in Austria’s Tirolean Alps, the city features a distinct culture that brings together European,…
Students are serving in schools, churches, clinics, farms and non-governmental organizations in three regions: the southern Andes (Cusco, San Jeronimo, Huacarpay and Lucre), the Ayacucho area (Huamanga and Huanta) and the central rain forest (Oxapampa and San Ramon). After our ten-day journey together in the Andes and our visit to…
What is this amazing place, perched high above the Urubamba River on a granite mountain? Who built it? And why? Hiram Bingham, often credited with discovering Machu Picchu, thought it was Vilcabamba, the famed “lost city of the Incas”. It turns out that Vilcabamba, where Manco Inca hid from…
The Inca Empire thrived in the tallest mountains in the western hemisphere over 500 years ago. How did they feed, clothe and provide housing for 12 million people? We began our investigation with a visit to the Andean Weaving Institute in Chincheros, a cooperative operated by a group of…
Several million people travel to Cusco each year for a chance to visit Machu Picchu. Indeed, we are among them. But before joining the throngs of international visitors descending into the sacred valley on their pilgrimage toward one of the 7 Wonders of the World, we opted for…
We began our adventure in the Andes, tallest mountains in the Western Hemisphere, with an afternoon tour of Sacsayhuaman. This epic archaeological site is perched above the city of Cusco. Built by the Inca civilization, it features a three-layered string of giant stones shaped like a lightning bolt and…
The students finished their time in Lima, Peru’s bustling capital, with exams, language practice, a visit to a fortress, a tour of downtown and a workshop on jewelry-making. Eliana and Ricardo Mauriola Carrasco supplement their family’s income by producing custom-made jewelry from seeds collected in the rainforest. Each student…
Children living on the margins of society are especially vulnerable. Several speakers — the director of a school for the deaf, a gifted musician and a public-sector systems analyst — explained what they are doing to provide education and opportunity to marginalized children. EFATA School was started by an…
CEBE María Auxiliadora (Mary our Helper Center for Basic Special Education) is a public school located in a middle class neighborhood in Lima’s San Borja district. Disabled children are brought here from all over the metropolitan area to learn and develop basic life skills. Some of the students are…
