Last group photo in Peru

We accompanied the students to the airport several hours ago and they are headed back to North America.

Good bye, Southern Cross.  Hello, Summer!

The post Departure appeared first on Peru Study-Service Term.

Mandy presents a Yanesha legend

We finished the semester with a retreat in Chosica, a town nestled in the foothills at the edge of Lima known for its sunny climate.  We spent time getting reacquainted and learning about each student’s research project.  Topics included:

After the presentations we spend time celebrating birthdays, worshiping, evaluating the service assignments and discussing re-entry into North American culture.

The post Retreat appeared first on Peru Study-Service Term.

Friends of Our Lady of Perpetual Relief Parish

Three students — Ellie, David and Taylor — are serving in the city of Chimbote on Peru’s north coast.  All three are working with Los Amigos, the volunteer organization established by Father Jack and Sister Peggy to help address the causes and consequences of poverty in this port city.

Ellie spends her days with children, playing with four-year-olds at the Our Lady of Perpetual Relief Parish preschool program, tutoring math with older kids at a library nearby and assisting with an after-school program that offers young people an alternative to gangs and drugs.

David works with Ellie and other volunteers in the gang-prevention program, as well as working on several garden projects and teaching English in the evenings.  His students range in age from 16 to 50 and are eager to learn as  much as they can.

Taylor helps out with art classes several times a week, a great supplement to the traditional education system.  She also puts her videography skills to good use.  She recently created, filmed and produced a three-minute clip that features the work of other volunteers and will soon be posted on the Los Amigos website.

The post Service on the Coast appeared first on Peru Study-Service Term.

With a grateful resident of Lucre

Three students — Allen, Seth and Simon — are serving in the Cusco area.  Four days of constant rain last January caused unprecedented flooding in the river valleys near the ancient capital of the Inca empire.  Countless homes and businesses were destroyed in the villages of Lucre, Huacarpay and elsewhere.

Pastors and members of the Mennonite Church in nearby San Jeronimo are hosting our students and organizing clean-up and reconstruction projects in the affected areas.  On some days the students dismantle ruined adobe walls.  On other days they build simple roofed structures out of Eucalyptus poles and corrugated roofing.  On the day we visited they were helping to build a wall out of concrete and rock to replace the adobe enclosure that protected chickens, guinea pigs and firewood before the flood.

The work is challenging but rewarding, a chance to make a small difference in the lives of those affected by weather patterns that people here attribute to climate change.  The students offer their muscle, their time and something more — a visible demonstration of our love for those who live out here on the margins.

The post Service in Cusco appeared first on Peru Study-Service Term.

Huascaran is Peru's highest peak at 6,768 meters (22,205 feet)

Five students are serving in the foothills of the Cordillera Blanca, or White Mountains, home to the tallest peaks in Peru.

Aaron spends each day helping children at the Bread of Life dining room in Huaraz finish their lunches and clear their tables.  Then he gathers an eager group of kids together to teach them basic words and common phrases in English.

Ingrid and Jake are placed at AWI, an acronym for the Good News Association.  Jake is updating the operating systems and software applications for the staff’s computers.  Ingrid assists with a variety of art projects, such as drawing graphics for educational materials for a literacy program developed for native Quechua speakers.  Both recently accompanied AWI staff on a four-day trek to visit communities in the nearby mountains.

Daniel works with World Vision International, promoting education for children and training for parents in rural villages outside Tarica.  His talent at performing slight-of-hand with small red balls has made him a popular performer at schools all over the valley.

Natalie works on a World Vision project further down the valley in a village called Mancos.  She teaches English in several classes at a local elementary school each morning and offers special classes to interested children at the Casa de Mi Abuela (Grandmother’s House Lodge) in the afternoons.

The post Service in the Sierra appeared first on Peru Study-Service Term.

INABIF is a day center for children whose parents are too occupied, and often too poor, to feed them lunch and give them the attention they need to succeed at school.  Katelyn and Eliza are spending each weekday with primary school aged children, assisting them with their homework assignments and serving as a positive role model.  San Manuelito Special School is just down the street, an education center dedicated to children with developmental disabilities.  Ashley assists the teachers in a room full of adorable 2 and 3-year olds while Allison lends a helping hand with older children who are learning practical skills to help them contribute to their communities.

Chanchamayo Highland Products is a fair trade coffee and fruit company which produces certified-organic products for export to Europe.   John and Meg spend each day doing a variety of tasks, from sorting coffee beans destined to be dipped in chocolate to teaching English to the children of local farmers.  Up the hill from Highland Products is Fundo Almerique, a coffee farm operated for several generations by descendants of Italian immigrants.  Rick divides his time between helping to bring in the harvest and assisting with a reforestation project started last year to help bring back the native trees needed to shade the coffee plants and restore the watershed.

Azulis is a native Yanesha community located deeper in the rain forest.  Mandy and David are working with members of the Yanesha Ethnobotanical Insitute to help identify medicinal plants growing in the protected forest nearby.  Ryan teaches English to children at the elementary school and spends many an hour on the soccer field afterward.  All three are enjoying a rare chance to slow their pace to match the rhythms of village life in a community that is trying to develop sources of income for its inhabitants without destroying the traditions or the forest that have sustained this ethnic group for generations.

The post Service in the Rain Forest appeared first on Peru Study-Service Term.

Last day together as a group before service

The students finished their six-week stay in Lima with a visit to artist Victor Delfin’s studio in Barranco.  Then we prepared for the culminating event of the first half of Peru SST — the Despedida — a farewell party / talent show to thank our host families, language instructors and coordinators for all the time, energy and love they have shared with us these past weeks.

The students sang several songs in Spanish and English, acted out a drama called “El Sueño de San Martin” (The Dream of San Martin), performed a traditional dance from Lake Titicaca, beat seven cajon drums in time with master percussionist Camilo Ballumbrosio and, one by one, stood before the crowd of family members and supporters and said Thank You’s that were both eloquent and heart-felt.

The next day we met one last time as a group to ready ourselves for service, saying teary goodbyes and sharing our blessings.  Then early the following morning we witnessed the departure of three students to Chimbote, a port city north of Lima, three more to Cusco and 5 others to Huaraz, both located high in the Andes, and 10 more to La Merced, capital of the central region of the Peruvian rain forest.

The post Last Days in Lima appeared first on Peru Study-Service Term.

Sounds good

This semester we organized three workshops:  Traditional Dancing, Cajon Drumming and Jewelry Making.  We invited Peruvian artists — Pedro Farias, Camilo Ballumbrosio and Ricardo and Eliana Mauriola Carrasco –  to introduce their topics in a series of two-hour sessions for our entire group.  Then we gave each student a chance to choose one topic and go into more depth as we prepared for the Despedida, or farewell party, at the end of their time here in Lima.  Seven students learned a dance from Puno near Lake Titicaca.  Seven others learned a set of Afro-Peruvian rhythms from Chincha.  And the remaining seven created hand-made necklaces and earrings as gifts for each host mother.

We enjoyed the eloquence of several guest speakers.  Humberto Lay is an architect, pastor and serious contender for the upcoming Lima mayor’s race.  Mr. Lay also served on Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, helping to shed light on the atrocities committed by both terrorists and the military during Peru’s internal war against the Shining Path and MRTA guerrillas.  He spoke about the efforts of the Commission to bring healing to a nation recently divided by a messy war and gave a frank assessment of the challenges that still remain.  Jose Manuel Prada is a missionary from Colombia and pastor at the Comunidad RETO Internacional Mennonite Brethren Church in Lima.  He described the ongoing conflict between the Peruvian government and indigenous groups in the Amazonian rain forest.  Recent policies designed to promote oil and gas extraction have led to destruction of the forest and damage to many native communities, culminating in a bloody battle between natives and soldiers in Bagua last summer.  Pastor Prada explained why Christians should care about this conflict and described the Church’s efforts to heal the wounds in one village, Tampe, during a visit earlier this year.

The students have participated in several one-day service projects over the course of the semester.  Our last assignment was in a neighborhood at the edge of Lima that was “invaded” by poor families ten years ago.  The government has promised to give the families titles to their land and establish basic public services, such as water, sewer and electric lines.  As residents continue to wait for this promise to be fulfilled they live without the infrastructure most of us take for granted.  Water, for example, is delivered each day by passing tanker trucks who fill up the tubs and basins set outside each home.  Our project was simple:  Purchase five tank loads of water and help distribute it to residents free of charge.  Funds for the purchase came from a North American donor and from Goshen College students who were so excited about a similar project last semester that they took up a collection before they returned to the U.S. and asked us to use it to purchase an extra truck load this time around.

The post Workshops, Words, Water appeared first on Peru Study-Service Term.

The sun emerges from the clouds as we explore the city

We began our week-long trip to the epic Inca city with a visit to Sacsayhuaman, home to a collection of huge stones fitted together with incredible precision more than five centuries ago.  Then we embarked on a three-day service project in nearby Huacarpay, working with families whose homes were flooded during four days of unprecedented rainfall in January.  Our service work was organized by pastors and staff at the Mennonite Church in San Jeronimo.  While one group of students helped a family move its household possessions from a temporary shelter erected on a nearby hillside back to their home in the village, a second group helped build a roof and a third dug the foundation for a concrete wall to replace the adobe barrier washed away when water crested the highway.  We finished our service work with a visit to those still living at the tent city up on the hill.  Our service coordinator, Willy, helped us organize a health education workshop for children where we distributed anti-parasite medication and fluoride treatment donated by Camino de Vida (Road to Life) Church in Lima.  We also gave each family a cloth, draw-string bag sewn by members of Waterford Mennonite Church in Goshen and filled with donated personal hygiene items.   The students  enjoyed staying with host families from the church in San Jeronimo during this time and we celebrated the completion of our work with a roasted cuy (guinea pig) dinner.

Next we set off to explore a collection of Inca ruins that are off the beaten path between Cusco and Machu Picchu.  Moray is an ancient agricultural experiment station with terraces built in a series of concentric circles.  Our guide, Oswaldo, explained how Inca engineers constructed the site to develop new strains of potatoes, quinua, corn and other crops.  The bowl-shaped terraces simulate changes in elevation, amplifying the differences in temperature found at different locations throughout the Andes.  We also visited nearby Chincheros, a chance to experience a traditional market filled with products ranging from the ubiquitous papa (potato) to hand-made alpaca sweaters.

Huchuy Qosqo (Little Cusco) is a small farming community located more than 2,000 feet above the Sacred Valley of the Incas.  To get there we hiked four steep kilometers from the valley floor, an exhausting endeavor at 11,800 feet above sea level.  Our reward was a chance to experience a place high in the Andes still untouched by vehicles and seldom visited by outsiders, walking a path treaded by locals for untold centuries.  We also ate some great food — quinoa soup, roasted cancha (corn), skewers of  vegetables and meat and cups of hot mate (tea) — prepared and served by our hosts.  The next morning we accepted an invitation to sit among the Inca ruins and enjoy a play performed in the Quechua language by members of the community.  The ancient drama recounted a love story that took place in this very place before the arrival of the Spanish in 1532.  A woman and man, who had known each other since childhood, were heartbroken when the Inca’s general fell in love with the woman and pledged to marry her.  The lovers ran away, the general found them and, after executing both man and woman, proclaimed that the village would remain small forever because of their disobedience to the king (Huchuy Qosqo is Quechua for “little Cusco”).

Our last destination was Machu Picchu.  We staged our train trip to the most-visited destination in South America from the nearby town of Ollantaytambo, a “living museum” that was celebrating the largest festival of the year during our visit.  When we awoke before dawn to catch our train, the villagers were still celebrating!  We arrived early in Machu Picchu, learned briefly about the site, then divided into groups to explore.  One set of sturdy hikers set out for the summit of Machu Picchu (Old Mountain) while another set visited the sun gate on the Inca Trail.  A third group set off for the Inca Bridge.  The most energetic were able to reach two or even three of these destinations .  As the day ended the sun emerged from behind the clouds and we enjoyed a guided tour of the sacred city itself.

The post Journey to Machu Picchu appeared first on Peru Study-Service Term.

At the base of a cliff

We began the week with a lecture on race and ethnicity, then enjoyed workshops on contemporary praise songs and dances from the rain forest, highlands and coast.  We headed south several days later, traveling to the Lurin Valley to spend a day and a night at an orphanage.  We painted the dining room ceiling and the outside play area using brushes and paint provided by a North American donor.  Then we spent time playing with children of all ages before heading off to bed.  The next morning we met with the administrator to learn more about the orphanage.  To our surprise, most of the children have been brought here by parents who simply cannot afford to feed or clothe them.  They typically receive a Sunday afternoon visit once or twice a month from family members.  They not only attend school but also participate in talleres (workshops) where they learn a trade such as baking, farming or animal care.  We finished the week with a hike in the Lomas de Lucumo protected area, a welcome chance to enjoy some serious exercise, bright sunshine and fresh air.  Our guide, Norma, taught us about the history of the area — 10,000 year old cave paintings, seasonal migrations of shepherds from the highlands in search of forage, the development of haciendas and cotton plantations and the secret religious ceremonies carried out by Afro-Peruvian slaves.  We also learned about a unique ecosystem, a ravine watered by fog and inhabited by birds, snails, insects, foxes and hares.

The post Sing, Dance, Paint and Play appeared first on Peru Study-Service Term.