Peru Internships — Global Skills & Knowledge!

I went to Cusco for 8 an week internship in a first grade classroom at a special education school and worked as a special education intern right outside of central Cusco. I was able to establish very strong relationships with the people that I met there including students, teachers, and parents. As an intern, I helped supervise the students in the classroom, plan and teach lessons, play with the students during recess, and furthermore, I was able to partake in special festivities that the school organized. It was such an amazing and unforgettable experience for me as I was truly able to have a meaningful impact on the students and teachers at the school and they definitely had a profound impact on me too. Everyone in my school, and in Cusco in general, was so welcoming and kind to me. My host mom was one of the most caring people I know and took the greatest care of me. I was able to immerse myself in the culture and become a part of the community. I also loved the city of Cusco from the moment I saw it. It is a beautiful city with so much to experience. The Maximo Nivel staff were all amazing and so helpful all of the time. A year later and I am still always thinking about when I will be able to go back to Peru.

Thanks to the program that Maximo provided me, I've got wonderful experience and had amazing three months in Cusco. Especially, I would like to let everyone know a point that I felt attractive about the program.
They gave me great support during the whole time. The introduction of the city of Cusco and tour at the beginning of the program was so helpful. Before getting some kind of problem, I could get where is general hospital, safe ATM, big supermarket, and so on. Enough information about the city that we don't know well is very important for students. Maximo gave me almost all of the information that I'd wanted to know. Furthermore, the advice or instruction against the problem was fast and accurate. When I had question, They helped me a lot and sent me Emails for anticipating me. For a students from other side of the globe, it was really valuable and grateful. More than anything, All staffs at Maximo are very kind and reliable persons. I really love all of them and now remember how heartwarming it is the atmosphere there.
Now I want to appreciate to all guys who supported me. Thank you.

I had a great internship experience with Maximo Nivel! I spent one month in Cusco, Peru interning at South American Explorers. SAE is a non-profit organization that offers services such as travel information, books, maps, unique trip ideas, and first-hand knowledge to travelers from all over the world. I got to meet a huge variety of people; there was always at least three or four languages being spoken in the SAE lounge! Interacting with all of the people and practicing my Spanish was invaluable, I truly think this internship has better prepared me for my career.

Maximo Nivel staff were incredibly supportive throughout the whole internship process and helped me with any questions I had. Maximo set me up with an amazing host mom! To her, we were all her bebes and she treated us as such. My Spanish lessons with Maximo were also a lot of fun; the teachers were kind and knowledgeable.

I can't imagine a better place to intern than Cusco. The city is beautiful and full of history, the people are friendly, the food is delicious (try aji de gallina), and there is always something to do! Go to the salt mines, tour the churches, take local transit, see native dances, learn the difference between alpaca and "alpaca", learn words in quechua, and, for more recommendations, just visit SAE! Visiting Machu Picchu was definitely the highlight of my trip! Along with the sexy-woman ruins (haha) and abundance of alpacas. Hope you enjoy it too!

My experience with the Human Rights internship was incredible. I was placed in Casa de Acogida Kausakusun. This is a shelter for women and children and I was the only intern or volunteer working at the times I was assigned. The women, children and employees there are eager for outside support and at times didn't know what to do with the extra help. This program allowed me to explore a possible career in social work by allowing me to work directly with the women and children. There were several instances in which I felt the need to stay longer because I knew that the work I was doing could help improve their lives.
My program director was extremely helpful in helping me figure out what work needed to be done. I encountered many challenges along the way; however, my director was always open and willing to help in any circumstance. Without her help, there would have been little to no progress made for Kausakusun.
The people I encountered were all friendly and welcoming during my month of interning. My home-stay was probably my favorite part about the entire trip. I grew very close to my family and house mates. They were able to make the experience far more enjoyable because this set-up feels very familiar and close. I made relationships and memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life!

My time as an intern in Cusco was absolutely life changing, I spent a month teaching 3rd and 4th grade at a school up in the mountains of Cusco. The days were long and sometimes tough and tiring but ALWAYS worth it. Wether it was gaining the trust of a student or seeing their eyes light up when they finally understood a new math concept - every day brought new joy and happiness. I spent my days with my students learning from each other, afternoons were spent at the Maximo headquarters interacting with the absolutely fabulous staff (honestly i cannot say enough about them!) and learning Spanish, and finally nights were spent with the loving local family that took me in and treated me as just that...family.

Some highlights if you do not want to read the extended version:
- Very tailored placement
- Great supervision from Maximo - I had biweekly check-in meetings
- Having one Spanish teacher during my three-month internship
- Still had time to do weekend trips to other places near Cusco :)

I completed a three-month internship in Cusco, Peru (Sept-Dec 2015) with a U.S.-based non-profit organization seeking to address issues of poverty and gender inequality through girls'/women's empowerment. Although it wasn't a Peruvian organization, all of its programs took place in Cusco and program beneficiaries were all Cusquenan. As a result, my experience was more of a hybrid of American Peruvian cultures and practices (which was an excellent mix for me since I am from the U.S. and interested in international development). I went into this program with the goal of killing three birds with one stone: gain Spanish language fluency, obtain international development/social work experience, and travel. I can happily report that I've met all three goals.

Because I graduated with my Master's in Social Work and have also had several years of professional experience prior to the trip, I was very specific with the type of placement I was looking for and had specific goals that I wanted to reach. I made sure that I communicated those clearly to Maximo. Maximo did an excellent job tailoring the placement to benefit all stake holders. It was exactly the type of work that I wanted to do and both Maximo and NGO staff provided consistent and helpful supervision. The complimentary hour/day Spanish classes were also a great resource that I leveraged quite liberally.

My time was split between direct service work (teaching & running groups with program participants) and program development. My day-to-day varied, but usually included things like researching relevant material, lesson planning for groups, engaging in my own strategic brainstorming sessions, having skype meetings with the director (who was in the U.S. half the time I was there) to prioritize tasks/develop existing or potential new programs, creating material required to advance/improve programs or donor base, and meeting with the local coordinator to learn about the details of existing services, to update her on the condition of the program participants, and to learn more about the context in which I was working in. I also had a ton of opportunities to get involved beyond my technical scope of work that weren't mandatory, but extremely helpful in building my understanding of the Peruvian context (ie: regular hang-outs with the program participants, home visits, community outreach), all of which allowed me to be more effective in my work.

Overall, I loved my experience in Peru and highly recommend the program. Based on my personal experiences, here are a few recommendations, especially for first-timers volunteering/interning/working abroad:

- Be proactive - can't stress this enough; it is true what you put in is what you get out of it
- Don't expect an immediate grand welcome and acceptance from the locals just because you're a foreigner
- Humility goes a long way (aka spend time learning about the local context before jumping into coaching, giving advice, etc.)
- If you are involved in more coaching/teaching/consultancy type work, go in with the mind set of teaching one how to fish rather than giving the person the fish - all about sustainability!
- Never hesitate to reach out to Maximo staff. They are very helpful and resourceful :)
- Leverage your Spanish teacher as a resource
- Make it your experience & be creative!

I had an unbelievable experience with Maximo. Their support, my amazing host family and friends in Cusco and the invaluable time in the clinic far exceeded my expectations. Maximo provided me with the resources and recommendations that helped to make Cusco truly feel like a second home. At my volunteer placement I had daily, intimate patient interaction and learned quickly from the friendly, encouraging staff there. The team at Maximo was very involved in making my experience the best it could be, prompting me to make frequent reflections and comparisons and challenging me to go above and beyond. Finally, my Spanish improved significantly thanks to my absolutely incredible Maximo instructor.