How I Learned to Be the Change:
My Alternative Spring Break Experience in Peru

On our first day in the town of Urubamba, Perú under the snow-capped mountain of Chicon, our Nexos Voluntarios project coordinator Maricarmen Valdivieso told us that the people we would meet in the next seven days would remember us for the rest of their lives.

As our group gathered on the wooden floors of the Nexos Voluntarios house for orientation, we knew it was the beginning of a profound journey. However, we did not anticipate the tremendous amount of accomplishment, gratitude, and inspiration we would return home with.
The first day of our service project started with breakfast at local café La Esquina consisting of bread with jam, and coco leaf tea to help with the altitude adjustment; after all we were 11,000 feet above sea level in the Peruvian Andes! We then traveled to Escuela Villa Marcelo, the local elementary school where we would be assisting in the creation of a library and cafeteria. As we stepped onto the rocky dirt road, we were greeted by many curious faces eager to know what this bus full of “gringos,” as they so affectionately called us foreigners, was doing in their community. A little apprehensive at first, I never felt so welcomed by complete strangers, and in a few days I felt like a member of the community.

Our senses overwhelmed with the strong summer sun on our foreheads, crisp mountain air in our lungs, and the reflection of a vast green mountain ranges in our sunglasses, we made our way into the school yard to be greeted by some cows casually enjoying breakfast. We then met the school principal, Hector, who would be working with us on our various tasks. He may have had the title of “director” at Villa Marcelo, but throughout the week we witnessed Hector as a painter, cook, tile setter, contractor and even a musician, going over and above his role as chief administrator.

Then it was time to meet some of the grade one to six students. “Hola!,” I greeted one curly-haired boy. “Como te llamas?” The small boy glared up at me through big brown eyes. “Me llamo Yahweh,” he exclaimed so proud to introduce himself. This was all the conversation my limited Spanish could handle, but the connections I made with Yahweh and the other children as we played in the schoolyard or enjoyed some corn would not be lost in translation.
Every morning for the next few days, we put on our purple “Be the Change” t-shirts and head out to Villa Marcelo with the Nexos coordinators Maricarmen and Connie. The organization we worked with, Nexos Voluntarios, promotes social development in Peru through impact-driven voluntary activity. Four days, a bucket of grout, a few sheets of sandpaper, a 50 pack of travel wipes, and many coats of paint later, the library and cafeteria were ready to be filled with students. What a week! It was strenuous and sometimes uncertain, but none of us had worked on such a worthwhile project in our lives.

The purpose of the Alternative Spring Break program is to provide Western students with a hands-on experience that will enhance their academic careers and inspire their future endeavors. I learned a great deal about the challenges NGOs like Nexos Voluntarios in Perú are working with. While poverty affects 40 percent of the people, tourists are spending thousands to visit their Incan ruins. The country is in need of social development, but the people do not lack talent and enthusiasm; rather they lack opportunity. As a volunteer I am proud to say I provided the students at Villa Marcello with the resources for them to become aware of the possibilities life holds, and to build the inspiration to attain them.


Whatever I have given to the families in Urubamba in time and effort, they have paid me back ten-fold with a new-found knowledge and gratitude I can incorporate into every aspect of my life. I found something in me that I didn’t know was there; it was the confidence to use the gifts I have been blessed with to create positive change for others.
A week ago, 20 Western students were unknowingly walking past each other in the UCC, but in a few days we built a union, provided resources for the future of a school, and cultivated friendships and experiences that will be with us long after graduation. I know I could not fix the problems of an entire country in one week, but there is no denying I learned and shared more than ever expected.

Maricarmen told us the people in Urubamba would remember us for the rest of their lives. Six thousand kilometers away back in London, I find myself thinking of my trip to Peru everyday. My mind is filled with incredible knowledge, and my heart filled with memories of a community of people that I too will remember for the rest of my life.