During your travels in Peru, you can expect to participate in several different service experiences—construction projects where you may learn to mix cement or paint a community building, environmental projects such as planting seedlings or shadowing local farmers, and educational projects such as teaching English to local children. The focus of this summer program in Peru is learning about another culture by forming meaningful relationships with local people and undertaking a shared community service experience together. You should come to the summer with an open mind, eager to participate in new experiences and interested in exploring another culture and way of life. All students participate in each of the group’s projects on a rotating basis, and everyone lends a hand in meal preparation and cleanup. To learn more about our Service programs, click here.

Proficiency in Spanish is not required; however, students who speak Spanish or study Spanish in school will have opportunities to practice while communicating with local people. Students who do not speak Spanish 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!

In addition to group projects, pursue an independent project based on your own interests—create a Quechua phrasebook, lead English workshops in the local school, interview locals about village history, learn to cook a traditional meal, organize a sports game for local kids, or spend a day harvesting potatoes with a local farmer.

This is a physically active summer travel program. The service work and afternoon activities can be strenuous, and you can expect to spend most of each day outside, hiking, biking, horseback riding, and walking. 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 will reach a maximum altitude of 9,000 feet.

This program visits high altitude destinations—our host villages (above 10,000 feet), Cusco (11,200 feet), Ollantaytambo (9,200 feet), and Machu Picchu (8,000 feet).

Our living accommodations in Peru are very simple. We sleep in a community center on cots with sleeping bags. There are simple bathrooms in an adjacent room. While we have access to electricity, it can be sporadic. On excursions, we stay in small, family-run hostels and inns. Leaders reside together with the students throughout the program.

In the host village we eat delicious, home-cooked meals prepared by locals. Each day, several students from the group organize cooking and cleaning crews and help the cooks prepare meals. During excursions, we eat most meals in restaurants and occasionally visit local markets to shop for picnic lunches.