peru is world renowned for its natural beauty, biodiversity, and historical heritage. but off the beaten tourist track live communities struggling to keep the balance between past traditions and modern realities...
Cuzco, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Peru, is home to beautiful colonial architecture and Incan ruins, where modern businessmen and indigenous Quechua alike walk ancient cobblestone streets. Lifeworks students spend some time exploring the beauty of this city and the surrounding Sacred Valley, including excursions in horseback riding, hiking, whitewater rafting and visits to colorful markets, rural communities and, of course, spectacular Machu Picchu!
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But behind the beaten path of the tourist attractions, live children and families struggling with poverty, and physical and environmental health. It is here that Lifeworkers really engage their hearts, minds and hands. Working with local agencies, we seek to offer help to underprivileged single mothers by providing baby care so that the mothers can gain an education and a future. We teach English to them and build confidence and skills in the children by playing games and leading arts and crafts activities.
In rural communities where most cooking is done in the home over an open fire without adequate ventilation, we construct and install cleaner burning stoves that improve air quality for families suffering from indoor air pollution. We construct new water filters and distribute them to families who have no source of clean water. Amongst other projects, we will aid in reforestation initiatives.
The Amazon rainforest, one of the most exotic and adventurous destinations in the world, is the highlight for many, as it is home to extraordinary biodiversity. Staying in an authentic jungle ecolodge, where wildlife watching is a step outside the door, students tour the amazing plant and animal life, as well as participate in vital environmental and humanitarian projects with local migrant communities.
The students staying on for Peru Plus experience all this and more. After our stay in the Sacred Valley and the Amazon, students have an action-packed week while exploring the sights of Puno and Arequipa. At 12,500 feet in elevation, Lake Titicaca, with its colorful cultures and unique inhabitants, has a surreal beauty. Arequipa, the "White City", and the neighboring countryside is explored on foot and bike, while Colca Canyon, at a depth twice that of the Grand Canyon, is a sight to see with quaint villages and awe-inspiring views of the western hemisphere's largest flying land bird, the Andean Condor!
