As we prepare to welcome our next group of SST students we reflect on these words from Henri Nouwen: “Latin America: impressive wealth and degrading poverty, splendid flowers and dusty broken roads, loving people and cruel torturers, smiling children and soldiers who kill. It is here that we have to…
Excitement mixed with sadness permeated the air at Casa Goshen. The students had two hours to pack up their belongings, making sure their suitcases weighed in at just under 50 pounds. We shared a final dinner prepared by Glicerio, Alicia’s son-in-law, who was trained in culinary arts at the Marriot…
The Spring 2013 Study Service Term in Peru finished with a retreat at the Scripture Union Center in Kauai. Located two hours south of Lima, Kauai is situated on a sandy beach far from the hustle and bustle of the city. The students presented the research they…
Emma and Mandy are volunteering at two preschools and one after-school program in the rain forest city of Oxapampa. According to anecdotes from Peruvian teachers and school administrators, the nation’s education system is underfunded, with underpaid teachers, classrooms devoid of basic supplies and a pedagogy that emphasizes rote memory over…
Jesse volunteers at a family-owned coffee farm called Fundo Almorique. Coffee is the second-most traded product in the world, second only to petroleum in its importance as an export. Hundreds of millions of people drink coffee each day, enjoying the aroma of a freshly-brewed cup and feeling…
Jacob and Joseph are volunteering for a nonprofit organization called Ecomundos in the native village of San Miguel de Marankiari. As the world becomes ever more modern and ever more globalized, indigenous people are pressured to acculturate, becoming like everyone else. Many move to the cities and…
Jieun and Phil are working with children in the rain forest city of San Ramon. This small urban area is home to hundreds of impoverished families hampered by absentee fathers, alcohol addiction and an inability to make ends meet due to low wages and limited employment opportunities. Children living under…
Alex is volunteering at Chanchamayo Highland Products in the Selva Central (Central Rain Forest) of Peru. Societies have always traded the goods they have in abundance for the goods that are scarce or otherwise unavailable to them. In the developing world, the prevailing pattern has been to…
Andrew and Oscar are volunteering at Fe y Alegria (Faith and Happiness) School in Tarma. The school serves children living in extreme poverty. It was founded several years ago with help from the Jesuit order of the Catholic Church. Since all the land near the center of…
Isaac and Kolton are volunteering in the classroom. They, along with the rest of us, entered the service portion of the Peru Study Service Term with open eyes and open hearts. We often ask our Peruvians friends and acquaintances, “How can we be of service to you and your community?” …
