COUNTRY: Peru
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Construction
WRITTEN BY: Kathy Pan
The first week in Cuzco has been a jam-packed and amazing experience for me and the other volunteers. There's barely been a moment's rest since the program officially started last Saturday, with everyone making their own way to Cuzco airport, be it a 24 hour total fly around from Australia (not as bad as it sounds) or straight from backpacking elsewhere in South America (highly recommended).
The first thing you notice is that Cuzco is beautiful. Walking down the local streets during the day, the mountains are a constant backdrop. Taking a taxi home (extremely affordable, like everything else here) at night, the houses on the mountains all light up to create an awe-inspiring scenery.
Cuzco isn´t English-friendly (but the Spanish environment is a very good teacher, and our Spanish lessons so far have been really useful), but it is extremely friendly. Yes, the international volunteers do get stared at on the streets, but everyone here is really lovely, welcoming and helpful, especially our host families. They really do treat us like we're a part of the family and they made us feel comfortable immediately. It means so much to have a home away from home here.
The conditions aren´t bad for our volunteering group. We get good meals (although it's mostly carbs - they love their bread, rice and potato here!), Western showers and warm beds. It's rainy season at the moment, but what that really translates into is the occasional quick and heavy downpour or two in the afternoon.
The reality is that a few of us got sick or injured in the first few days, but it wasn´t too serious, and Dr. Victor here takes care of all the volunteers. High altitude effects has been our volunteer group´s main problem (though after a week, it´s now waning), and as long as we keep being careful of what we eat, drinking lots of water (no joke) and getting enough rest, we should be fine.
The main reason we´re here is to work with Jane and Selvy, our In-Country Agents to help local rural communities by building them a primary school and going from there. The first time the volunteers visited the primary school in Pumamarca (one of their current projects), a beautiful and colourful school surrounded by mountains, we were blown away by Jane and Selvy´s story. They were just 22 and 23 when they decided to dedicate their lives to helping these communities!
Volunteering to teach and help out at the school has been very rewarding so far, but it´s early days and we´ve still got a way to go. They give us a high degree of independence and it´s very important to be proactive and flexible.
I can´t really describe to you what it´s like to live in a completely different culture. You have to be here to experience it fully, no words or pictures can really do it justice. Despite a few bumps, all of us are open-minded, happy to be here, and very excited about the next three weeks!
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