Peru
Public Health in the Andes
Travel from Lima to the Sacred Valley of the Peruvian Andes and explore how traditional and modern approaches are incorporated into medicine and public health. Meet with NGOs and government leaders to learn about the roles that government and international health groups play in providing rural, community-based health care. Join health practitioners in the field, meet with university professors and students, and connect with community members as you explore the dynamic intersections of history, tradition, and contemporary culture from Lima to Cusco to the iconic site of Machu Picchu.
- Highlights
• Accompany community health workers in a field training
• Explore archaeological terraces where Incas once cultivated medicinal plants
• Trek to the mysterious mountaintop citadel of Machu Picchu
Expert
Itinerary
This itinerary represents our best projection of the group’s schedule. However, we may implement changes designed to improve the quality of the program.
Meet your fellow high school student travelers and one or more of your program leaders in Miami, and fly together to Lima, Peru. To learn more about how we organize travel, click here.
Begin your journey in Lima with an introduction to Peruvian culture. Observe the multicultural and Indigenous history of the nation as you explore its historic capital. Learn how the government of Peru mandated universal health care as a right for all Peruvians in 2009, and analyze the efficiency of this healthcare system in providing coverage and care. In the evening, visit the bustling center of Lima’s markets and seaside cafes in the Miraflores neighborhood, learn about the city’s history through art in the historic downtown, and sample some of Peru’s world-famous ceviche.
Spend two nights in the city of Huaycán outside of Lima. While there, explore one of Peru’s important but lesser known archaeological complexes, and learn how the community is centering economic development for the local population as the site becomes more well known. Meet with community leaders and visit health centers to gain a deeper understanding of the realities of healthcare in Peru, and learn how to use instruments to measure your own health indicators and responses to environmental conditions.
During your time in Huaycán and Lima, your program expert, Dr. Guido Lombardi, joins the group. Hear how healthcare is being brought to isolated or underserved communities across Peru and the Andean highlands. Examine the role of the international community, learn about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru from a public health and economic perspective, and consider what challenges lie ahead.
Fly with your group to Cusco, the former capital of the Inca Empire and gateway to the Sacred Valley. Immerse yourself in Andean culture as you walk the narrow streets lined with ancient, carved stones, and hike to Saqsaywaman, an Incan settlement dating to 900 B.C. Visit the headquarters of an international health NGO and learn about the organization’s work with local communities to build stronger, more effective health systems. Explore connections between public health and local development as you visit neighborhoods and observe how community organizing efforts can help underserved communities connect to health systems. Spend a morning learning about natural medicine from a curandera while visiting a nearby Indigenous community just outside the city. Explore the market at San Pedro and learn how local farmers are creating food autonomy through the cultivation of traditional crops. Try out traditional ingredients used to cure everything from a common cold to the pains of heartbreak.
Travel to Pisac, a small town nestled in Peru’s Sacred Valley of the Inca. Explore the imposing Pisac archaeological site, and visit Pisac’s world-renowned artisanal market for a taste of local life. Venture into the surrounding hills and visit the national Potato Park, a living exhibition and education center focused on protecting and celebrating the diversity of the potato, one of Peru’s most important agricultural crops.
From Pisac, travel to the mountain town of Ollantaytambo. Visit a local NGO and join a wilderness medicine training session with local women who work with underserved rural communities. Reunite with your program expert in Ollantaytambo and continue working on your independent project under the guidance of your expert and leaders. In the afternoon, explore the Incan architecture of the town, visit local markets, or hike through the surrounding mountains. At the end of your stay in Ollantaytambo, present your findings to your group and expert.
Board an early morning train bound for Machu Picchu, the most famous archaeological site in the Americas. Descend from the train and prepare to hike the final eight miles of the Inca trail with the support of experienced guides. Explore the mountain sites of Chachabamba and Wiñay Wayna before entering Machu Picchu via Inti Punku, the Sun Gate. Explore this well-preserved Inca stronghold, world-renowned for its remote, mountaintop location, and spend the night in Aguas Calientes.
Return to Cusco, celebrate the end of your program, and say goodbye over a special dinner with local friends.
Fly from Cusco, Peru, to Miami with your group and a leader, then continue on to your final destination. To learn more about how we organize travel, click here.
Itinerary
This itinerary represents our best projection of the group’s schedule. However, we may implement changes designed to improve the quality of the program.
Meet your fellow high school student travelers and one or more of your program leaders in Miami, and fly together to Lima, Peru. To learn more about how we organize travel, click here.
Begin your journey in Lima with an introduction to Peruvian culture. Observe the multicultural and Indigenous history of the nation as you explore its historic capital. Learn how the government of Peru mandated universal health care as a right for all Peruvians in 2009, and analyze the efficiency of this healthcare system in providing coverage and care. In the evening, visit the bustling center of Lima’s markets and seaside cafes in the Miraflores neighborhood, learn about the city’s history through art in the historic downtown, and sample some of Peru’s world-famous ceviche.
Spend two nights in the city of Huaycán outside of Lima. While there, explore one of Peru’s important but lesser known archaeological complexes, and learn how the community is centering economic development for the local population as the site becomes more well known. Meet with community leaders and visit health centers to gain a deeper understanding of the realities of healthcare in Peru, and learn how to use instruments to measure your own health indicators and responses to environmental conditions.
During your time in Huaycán and Lima, your program expert, Dr. Guido Lombardi, joins the group. Hear how healthcare is being brought to isolated or underserved communities across Peru and the Andean highlands. Examine the role of the international community, learn about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru from a public health and economic perspective, and consider what challenges lie ahead.
Fly with your group to Cusco, the former capital of the Inca Empire and gateway to the Sacred Valley. Immerse yourself in Andean culture as you walk the narrow streets lined with ancient, carved stones, and hike to Saqsaywaman, an Incan settlement dating to 900 B.C. Visit the headquarters of an international health NGO and learn about the organization’s work with local communities to build stronger, more effective health systems. Explore connections between public health and local development as you visit neighborhoods and observe how community organizing efforts can help underserved communities connect to health systems. Spend a morning learning about natural medicine from a curandera while visiting a nearby Indigenous community just outside the city. Explore the market at San Pedro and learn how local farmers are creating food autonomy through the cultivation of traditional crops. Try out traditional ingredients used to cure everything from a common cold to the pains of heartbreak.
Travel to Pisac, a small town nestled in Peru’s Sacred Valley of the Inca. Explore the imposing Pisac archaeological site, and visit Pisac’s world-renowned artisanal market for a taste of local life. Venture into the surrounding hills and visit the national Potato Park, a living exhibition and education center focused on protecting and celebrating the diversity of the potato, one of Peru’s most important agricultural crops.
From Pisac, travel to the mountain town of Ollantaytambo. Visit a local NGO and join a wilderness medicine training session with local women who work with underserved rural communities. Reunite with your program expert in Ollantaytambo and continue working on your independent project under the guidance of your expert and leaders. In the afternoon, explore the Incan architecture of the town, visit local markets, or hike through the surrounding mountains. At the end of your stay in Ollantaytambo, present your findings to your group and expert.
Board an early morning train bound for Machu Picchu, the most famous archaeological site in the Americas. Descend from the train and prepare to hike the final eight miles of the Inca trail with the support of experienced guides. Explore the mountain sites of Chachabamba and Wiñay Wayna before entering Machu Picchu via Inti Punku, the Sun Gate. Explore this well-preserved Inca stronghold, world-renowned for its remote, mountaintop location, and spend the night in Aguas Calientes.
Return to Cusco, celebrate the end of your program, and say goodbye over a special dinner with local friends.
Fly from Cusco, Peru, to Miami with your group and a leader, then continue on to your final destination. To learn more about how we organize travel, click here.
Leaders
Meet some of our featured leaders. Please note that these may not be your leaders for the program.
Leaders
Meet some of our featured leaders. Please note that these may not be your leaders for the program.
What to Expect
Review specific program expectations here. For more general information:
Public Health • Whether your goal is to pursue a career in medicine or public health, or simply to gain a greater understanding of different approaches to health care, this summer program provides opportunities to meaningfully engage with the topic of public health across a range of contexts. Through hands-on workshops with traditional medicine practitioners, interviews with specialized clinicians, university visits with professors and students in the College of Medicine, and wilderness medicine training with community health workers, you will come away from the program with a strong baseline understanding of the varying approaches to public health in Peru and their effectiveness.
Pursue an independent project and explore an aspect of local culture that is of particular interest to you—create a sketchbook featuring traditional medicinal plants and their uses, give a presentation about the different responses of Peruvian communities to the global pandemic, or interview health practitioners about the differences between urban and rural medicine in Peru.
Proficiency in Spanish is not required. However, if you speak or study Spanish in school you will have opportunities to practice while communicating with local people. If you don’t speak Spanish, you will have the opportunity to learn some basic language skills. You will also have the opportunity to pick up and practice some Quechua, the local Indigenous language of the Cusco region!
This is a physically active summer travel program. You can expect to spend most of each day outside, walking, hiking, and participating in hands-on activities. You do not need to be at peak fitness to participate, but it is important that you have a desire to be physically active, and that you are excited about trying all activities. There is an eight-mile hike to Machu Picchu near the end of the program that reaches a maximum altitude of 9,000 feet.
This program visits high altitude destinations—Cusco (11,200 ft or 3,415 m); Pisac (9,750 ft or 2,970 m); and Ollantaytambo (9,200 ft or 2,800 m).
Throughout the program, we stay in small, family-run hostels and inns. Leaders reside together with the students throughout the program.
We eat many meals in restaurants and occasionally visit local markets to shop for picnic lunches.
What to Expect
Review specific program expectations here. For more general information:
Public Health • Whether your goal is to pursue a career in medicine or public health, or simply to gain a greater understanding of different approaches to health care, this summer program provides opportunities to meaningfully engage with the topic of public health across a range of contexts. Through hands-on workshops with traditional medicine practitioners, interviews with specialized clinicians, university visits with professors and students in the College of Medicine, and wilderness medicine training with community health workers, you will come away from the program with a strong baseline understanding of the varying approaches to public health in Peru and their effectiveness.
Pursue an independent project and explore an aspect of local culture that is of particular interest to you—create a sketchbook featuring traditional medicinal plants and their uses, give a presentation about the different responses of Peruvian communities to the global pandemic, or interview health practitioners about the differences between urban and rural medicine in Peru.
Proficiency in Spanish is not required. However, if you speak or study Spanish in school you will have opportunities to practice while communicating with local people. If you don’t speak Spanish, you will have the opportunity to learn some basic language skills. You will also have the opportunity to pick up and practice some Quechua, the local Indigenous language of the Cusco region!
This is a physically active summer travel program. You can expect to spend most of each day outside, walking, hiking, and participating in hands-on activities. You do not need to be at peak fitness to participate, but it is important that you have a desire to be physically active, and that you are excited about trying all activities. There is an eight-mile hike to Machu Picchu near the end of the program that reaches a maximum altitude of 9,000 feet.
This program visits high altitude destinations—Cusco (11,200 ft or 3,415 m); Pisac (9,750 ft or 2,970 m); and Ollantaytambo (9,200 ft or 2,800 m).
Throughout the program, we stay in small, family-run hostels and inns. Leaders reside together with the students throughout the program.
We eat many meals in restaurants and occasionally visit local markets to shop for picnic lunches.
A Day in the Life: Cusco
- Morning
- Afternoon
- Evening
A Day in the Life:
Cusco
- Morning
- Afternoon
- Evening
This Program is Directed by
Sylvie Littledale
If you have questions or would like to talk further about this program, please get in touch!
This Program is Directed by
Sylvie Littledale
If you have questions or would like to talk further about this program, please get in touch!