PAS Enrichment Scholarship Reflection Essay This summer I had the opportunity to spend four weeks in Peru. I participated in the Summer International Health Fellowship with the Foundation for International Medical Relief for Children. Along with 16 other college students from across the study and a couple of medical students, I spent three weeks in a city in the mountains called Huancayo and one week in a city in the jungle called La Merced. We did many different health related and other cultural activities and had an incredible experience. I grew to love the country of Peru and its people and am so grateful for the time I was able to spend there. While we were in Huancayo, we did five health campaigns in small villages surrounding the city inhabited by farmers that lived higher up the mountains. We would go to the village square and do patients
…show more content…
In Huancayo, we spent a whole day hiking up to a glacier at 15,000 feet and another day exploring a beautiful natural red rock formation called Torre Torre. In La Merced, we spent another day hiking to several different waterfalls in the jungle. We also got to try lots of new foods, especially fruits, which were all delicious and so fresh. One of my favorite parts was getting to know our host families. Six of us stayed with my family in Huancayo in a compound that included our main host, Carlos, his mother and two of his sisters and their families. I was the only one in my house group that spoke Spanish so I got a lot of practice translating and we spent many nights laughing through our language barrier. In La Merced, 12 of us stayed in one house with a lovely lady named Rosa and her family. We didn’t get to know them as well because we were only there for a week but it was great getting to know them a little bit
In Huancayo, we spent a whole day hiking up to a glacier at 15,000 feet and another day exploring a beautiful natural red rock formation called Torre Torre. In La Merced, we spent another day hiking to several different waterfalls in the jungle. We also got to try lots of new foods, especially fruits, which were all delicious and so fresh. One of my favorite parts was getting to know our host families. Six of us stayed with my family in Huancayo in a compound that included our main host, Carlos, his mother and two of his sisters and their families. I was the only one in my house group that spoke Spanish so I got a lot of practice translating and we spent many nights laughing through our language barrier. In La Merced, 12 of us stayed in one house with a lovely lady named Rosa and her family. We didn’t get to know them as well because we were only there for a week but it was great getting to know them a little bit