My Peruvian Adventure

About a month ago, I spent ten days in Cusco, Peru doing service work. I went through an amazing program at Illinois State University called Alternative Breaks. Cusco is an absolutely gorgeous city in the Andes mountains. I could never get over the amazing scenery and views.

While I was in Cusco my team and I, made up of 15 people, stayed with a host family. Each day were divided up into smaller groups to do different service projects. There was a construction group who helped build classrooms, an English teaching group who taught English to young students, and a childcare group which I was part of. The childcare group visited three different orphanages in the mornings and then met up with the rest of the large group at a community center in the afteroons. In the mornings I worked in a orphanage for children with disabilities. This was probably one of the most challenging experiences of my life. I know very very minimal Spanish so it was extremely difficult to communicate with nurses and caregivers in the orphange. I was unsure of children's specific disabilities, and the first day I felt I was more in the way than a help. The following days were better. Since the weather was so nice we were able to take the children outside. I took children in wheelchairs on walks around the facility and played with others on the play ground. I loved that orphanage and being able to make those children smile if only for a few days.

The community center was a great place. The children there was so lively and so fun to be around. I spent most afternoons coloring or playing with balloons with the kids!



We also spent an afternoon at a boys' orphanage. Earlier that morning we all went to a local plant market, picked out a plant, and brought it to the orphanage. We then spent the afternoon gardening and playing games.


We had a couple of free days as well. We spent that time hiking the Andes mountains and exploring Machu Piccu. My trip to Peru was amazing!