Over spring break, 23 Tabor Academy students and three faculty members traveled to Peru to complete service work.
Anny Candelario, class of 1997, Edwin Escobar, and Lauren Boucher led the group, which began the trip by working with the Peru’s Challenge Organization.
In a village known as Mikisiuno, students helped build a brick greenhouse. According to sophomore Lachlan Hyatt who attended the trip, “People of the community can grow flowers to sell in Cusco, which will bring more wealth and prosperity to the area.”
Each night, the group had a service reflection when they thought about the building process and its impact on the community and the family they were helping, as well as the personal and group achievements from the day.
The directors of the Peru’s Challenge Organization came to tell the group the story of how their organization started during one of these meetings, a highlight of the trip for many.
On the last day of their project, the Tabor group completed the building successfully, despite the hot conditions and high altitude.
According to senior Rachel McCoog, who attended this year’s and last year’s spring service trips, “The director of our tour has been leading groups for Education First for four years.” She continued, “We were her first group to complete a project from start to finish.”
Building the greenhouse has a lasting effect on the community, said McCoog. “We not only helped the family to raise their income but to provide their children with better opportunities such as a proper education.”
The group was able to visit some historical sights as well, seeing the Catedrál in the city of Cusco and the archeological site of Saqsaywaman. Additionally, for three mornings, students visited a local school that has expanded with the help of the Peru’s Challenge Organization.
McCoog said her favorite part of the trip was making connections with the children in the community, and Hyatt enjoyed playing soccer with the kids at the school. Tabor students taught lessons about hygiene and nutrition.
The group also visited mothers in the community at the Mothers’ Workshop where they create arts, crafts, and goods to sell. Students were able to meet the mothers and learn about what they were doing to help support their families.
Students traveled to the town of Aguascalientes and visited an alpaca and llama petting zoo, an outdoor crafts market, and toured a ceramics workshop where they met local artists. The next day, the group went to Machu Picchu and were all blindfolded before a reveal of the beautiful view. Then they took guided tours and explored the ruins.
Before they headed home, the group had dinner in the capital city of Lima at a retired bullfighter’s home, where they were able to see a more affluent area in contrast to the village in which they had worked.
Hyatt will be going on Tabor Academy’s summer service trip to Vietnam in addition to other service initiatives that he is planning to do.
Although she is a senior, McCoog plans on doing another trip like this as well.
“I love service trips because you get to learn about cultures in an extremely candid way while helping a community at the same time,” said McCoog.
By Julia O’Rourke
Tabor students work on building a brick greenhouse for a family in Mikisiuno, Peru during a spring break service trip. Photos Courtesy of Anny Candelario