Friday – Sunday, April 7-9. We had a group retreat this weekend to review and share what was experienced and learned on service, and then to prepare for transitioning back to home in the U.S. While on service students each had to research a special topic of their…
Thursday, April 6. All the students have safely returned “home” to Lima from their service locations. Our house filled with the sounds of back-slapping and laughter as everyone reunited with long-lost friends. Tonight they will spend with their host families, sharing experiences from service as well as saying goodbyes, and…
Monday, March 27. The Amazon region of Peru is home to more than 50 indigenous groups, the largest of which is the Ashaninka people, numbering about 80,000. Gabby and Tyler are living in one of the communities, San Miguel, that welcomes visitors to live with them. The community is…
Sunday – Wednesday, March 26-29. These small twin cities are in Chanchamayo, a region directly east of Lima that is reached by a road that climbs from Lima (in the desert at sea level), up over the Andes, through a snowy mountain pass at 16,000 feet, and then…
Friday-Sunday, March 10-12. Maria visited Trent, in Cusco, and Mark, in the small village of Lucre outside of Cusco, where the rest of the group had been during our week of traveling through the Sacred Valley toward Machu Picchu. She will post a description of the visit later, but…
Sunday – Tuesday, March 19-21. Doug visited these three students in Ayacucho, a small city of about 200,000 in the central Andes. Goshen students have worked here for several years, although all three students this semester are working at new locations. Amber and Tanner both work at a health…
Monday – Tuesday, March 13-14. Maria visited Vanessa in Arequipa, at the southern end of Peru in the desert at the foot of the Andes mountains. She will post a description of the visit later, but for now, here are the pictures. Vanessa with her host…
Wednesday-Thursday, March 8-9. Doug, Maria and Katie arrived in Vito Wednesday afternoon after a lengthy 3-hour taxi ride over, what seemed, the top of the world and down into a deep valley with a ledge holding the small village of Vito. Goshen has a special connection with this town;…
Katie’s family: Mayli, Adolfo, Charmely, and Silvestra. Tuesday-Wednesday, March 7-8. Katie is the first student to have this village as her service assignment. The connection was made through Katie’s host family in Lima: the host mother of Katie’s service family is the sister of Katie’s host mother…
Wednesday, February 22. The good part of visiting Machu Picchu in February is that this is the tourist “low season,” meaning there are fewer crowds to contend with. The bad part of “low season” is the reason few tourists come now: it rains frequently and the ruins can be…
