Excellent internship experience in the social services sector (Cusco, Peru)

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!