Firmly settled into the routine of pre-dawn wakeups, community life in Quechua, and an endless supply of potato soup, it hardly seems possible that our hardworking Volunteers are nearing the end of their final week in community!

The past few weeks have been busy and productive for our Volunteers and staff.  As the country exploded in Fiestas Patrias for Peru’s independence day, our Volunteers conducted educational activities on water sanitation, preventing respiratory infections and maternal mortality. Most of our Volunteers have also ushered their Community-based Initiatives (CBIs) to completion. Among other things, our Volunteers and their community partners have: organized a chicken cooperative to ensure a sustainable protein source for community children, furnished a school science lab, established a pine tree nursery to support reforestation, repaired communal irrigation canals, and constructed a long-awaited communal bathroom.  Project support funds are backing the completion of two libraries in communities in the Lamay region, with hundreds of Spanish language books collected through book drives organized by our Latin American Volunteers at the University of Cusco.

Last weekend, Volunteers from eight communities in the Combapata district joined forces with the Combapata municipality, Ministry of Health, and students from the University of Cusco to host a health fair at a busy local market. Topics ranged from prenatal nutrition to self-esteem and family planning. With support from the Bevill Grant, the fair reached over three hundred participants eager to know more about protecting their health! Next weekend, college Volunteers from the Yaurisque district will team up with CECADE  and Hatun Ñan, the indigenous students’ institute from the University of Cusco, to host a vocational fair at the CECADE center.

We’ll spend one of our last days together at Machu Picchu before saying “hasta pronto” to our new friends, honorary families, and beautiful Peru.  What an amazing summer we’ve had!