In only their first day on the job at Clinica San Juan de Dios in Cusco, Diana and Ellie were in high demand. Picture a room full of children in wheelchairs and walkers, about 40 of them, all wanting to see and feel some of that warm midday Cusco sun. For almost all of the children, the only way outside is courtesy of a staff member or a volunteer.

At best, there were about five people available to help out during the time that we were there. Two of them were Diana and Ellie, and they were kept busy wheeling children by turns along the outdoor loop, which wound through a playground. A favorite stop was the merry-go-round with a wheelchair ramp. Each ride also came with kisses and hugs.

Four weeks from now, it may be difficult for Diana and Ellie to say goodbye to the children, if the early signs of bonding are any indication. The clinic, which began in 1982, serves children and adults in need of physical therapy and rehab.

This is the first time, we believe, that Goshen students have served here. The clinic has a steady supply of volunteers during the high tourist season in July and August, but come fall, there are fewer hands to help with the children.

Across town, Melanie is also working with children, in a classroom at Aldeas Infantiles SOS, a preschool and much more. Aldeas Infantiles describes itself as an international “social movement.” Its core vision says that “every boy and every girl belongs to a family and grows best with love, respect and security.”

Many of the children who attend the preschool come from homes with a single parent, invariably a mother, who is hardpressed to earn enough money to support her children. The school tries to help by providing education, childcare, and healthy meals. On the day we visited, we found Melanie helping to maintain order in a lively cafeteria, and seeing that children brushed their teeth afterward.

Later that evening we shared a meal at Nonna Trattoria, a restaurant that is run by the wife of the man who works with Diana´s host sister. Got that? The pizza, baked in a wood-fired clay oven, was the best that we have had in Cusco.

While we were there, the three women competed for what amounted to bragging rights over who wore the most clothes to bed. If you wonder whether it’s cold at night in Cusco, here´s the proof: Ellie said she wears two shirts, socks, long sweat pants, and sometimes mittens and a coat. And she uses five alpaca blankets and a comforter.

Diana wears two pair of socks, two pair of pants, two longsleeve shirts, two T-shirts, a sweater, and a purple fleece; and she uses five alpaca blankets and a comforter.

Melanie wears two pair of pants, a T-shirt, two sweatshirts, socks, mittens, and a chuyo wool hat – “and then I mummify myself in a blanket and crawl under two more blankets and a comforter. It´s pretty much a ritual. You can ask my mom. Eventually you can get a pocket of heat in the room.”

One of the highlights of the first two weeks, Diana said, was attending a combination birthday party for her brother Lucho, 30, and a Father´s Day celebration for her host father, Luis. After dinner, which included roasted pig, the family sang huayno songs, a kind of folk music from the highlands, as well as more urban and coastal tunes.

“We moved the table aside and all danced, a room full of relatives and me,” Diana said. “They made a lot of jokes in Quechua, which I didn´t understand. It was a lot of fun.”

One of the days, we had a chance to visit with Diana´s parents, Luis and Angelica, who served us a snack of fruit juice, a delicious combination of pina, fresa and papaya, and crackers. Luis brought out his guitar and played several folk tunes from the region, a gift of song, he said, for our despedida, with this being our third and last group of students. In another gift without price, they slipped on our fingers rings shaped from stone that Luis had brought back from Machu Picchu years ago when he worked there.

We also had a lovely visit with Ellie´s family, including her host mother, Eduarda, and her sister Jhoseline. We were sorry to have missed host brother Elvis, who has guided every one of the Goshen groups on its tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas and Machu Picchu. He was away, leading another group during our stopover.

At Melanie's home, we received another warm welcome, as well as a dish of vanilla ice cream with mermelada de saúco, a topping that tastes like blueberry jam. We also received a tour of the home, which her host mother, Kely, a trained architect, has painted with artistic flourishes.