Peru Cusco an unforgettable experience

Beatriz was ready and waiting for us at the airport when we arrived and immediately made us feel welcome. She made sure we were comfortable with our host family then a couple of hours later took us on a tour of the area to make sure we new where all out basic needs could be met. Beatriz got my work at the school off to a great start by explaining that I had repair and construction skills I wanted to put to use. She helped the Directora and me come up with a plan to build toys for the children. Anytime I had a question or problem, and there weren’t many, Beatriz was available to help. The amount of energy that 50 or 60 three, four and five year olds can unleash during recess! It was amazing to watch these children running, screaming, roaring, climbing and generally just having fun. Even though all of these children are from seriously troubled family settings most of the children don’t yet seem to know they are disadvantaged. I hope no one ever tells them that they are. It was difficult to tear myself from the grasp of 5 or 6 children that want to continue playing with you. If you swing one child into the air then of course all their friends want to swing into the air, including the first child who now considers you to be their personal playmate. There was a hunger for attention. But probably the most difficult aspect was seeing very young children, with so much enthusiasm, intelligence and potential, facing the challenges that come with poverty, broken homes and limited resources. I can’t say enough good things about the school staff that works so hard to help shape, encourage and care for these children. Read the materials that ABV provides. I thought the “ABV Pre-Trip Guide for Peru” really covered everything I personally needed to know. Once you are on site let the person who is directly in charge of the program to which you are assigned know if you have any talents beyond those that qualified you for the official position. It just might be that the program has needs or desires that your additional talents can help fill. Look for opportunities, be creative and work to provide what the people in charge of the program want. I had a wonderful time working at a school for disadvantaged children. Not knowing exactly what I would be doing until I walked into the school on the first day of my assignment was pretty exciting. My ABV coordinator worked with the director of the school to identify tasks that could take advantage of my personal skills. I really hit the jackpot in getting to build toys for the kids from salvaged lumber, basic hand tools and a limited amount of purchased supplies. Our home stay host family was very welcoming and made us feel truly at home from the first minute we walked into their house. Our meals were of course typical of the foods routinely eaten by our host family with lots of carbohydrates and a modest amount of vegetables. Our room and bathroom were fairly typical for Latin America where room sizes are generally smaller and hot water is often only available in the shower. I felt very secure in our home and in the neighborhood. We walked or took public transportation all around the city of Cusco without any problems or fears.