Quinn is volunteering at Iglesia Evangélica Presbiteriania Emanuel (Emanuel Evangelical Presbyterian Church) of Ayacucho. The church was planted here in the Cuchipampa (Hog Flat) neighborhood by missionaries from the U.S. Presbyterian Church several years ago. Quinn lives and works with the pastor’s family in a building complex…
Cortney and Edgar are volunteering at Hogar de Niños Casa Luz (House of Light Children’s Home). Forty-three children between the ages of one and nineteen call this place home. Some were abandoned at birth. Some are orphans whose parents have died. Others know their mothers or fathers,…
Liz and Kate spend their days with little ones. Parents are busy with work, chores and activities outside the home. This is true all over the world, of course, in the Global North as well as the Global South. But the pressures on parents are especially acute in the mountains…
Barrett is volunteering at a nonprofit organization that provides health care services to low-income patients. The lifestyle of people who live in the Peruvian countryside is inherently healthy — fresh air, clean water and whole foods. Medical care is not readily available, however, for the treatment of…
Martin is spending the service portion of the Peru Study Service Term in a remote village named Yuraccraccay. The broad valley surrounding the village is fertile and green, warm enough to produce oranges, apples and avocados as well as exotic-tasting fruits such as pacay and chirimoya. Most…
The Service portion of the Study Service Term has begun. The students are volunteering in the highlands — Ayacucho, Huanta and Tarma — as well as the rain forest — San Ramon, La Merced, Oxapampa and San Miguel de Marankiari. They are assisting teachers at the primary and secondary school…
All good things must come to an end, including the study portion of the Spring semester Study Service Term in Peru. We ended our time in Lima with a Despedida, a party to say thank you to the host families, language instructors, coordinators and others who have…
Peru has a long history of conquest. The Incas were known for subduing neighboring peoples with generous gifts and military might, especially during the reign of its greatest leader, Pachacutec. By the beginning of the 16th century, the Inca realm covered all of modern day Peru, as…
Over the past 30 years, Lima’s population has grown dramatically. Millions of refugees fled here to escape the ravages of war between Shining Path terrorists and the Peruvian military in the 1980s and early 90s. In recent decades, even more families have relocated here in search of…
“Water is life” — these words are painted on a wall in one of the settlements far from downtown Lima. The problem is, people living in the Chavin de Huantar neighborhood of Villa El Salvador still don’t have it. There are no pipes bringing water to their…
