The Joy of Volunteering in Peru

Thank you so much for all the work that you do!

What an exciting adventure my husband, Tim, and I had as members of the 92nd Global Volunteers team to Lima, Peru! We worked at the orphanage - PPA (Puericultorio Perez Aranibar)! It is a life-changing experience to leave the comfort of one's home in SE Minnesota and travel to another continent and experience a life so different from our own. Yet, even with all the cultural differences and the poverty, the same wonderful human spirit shines through.

Working with a Global Volunteers' team is so unique because the volunteers come from around the States (and with this team - even Canada!) to volunteer together to wage peace. We first get to know one another through a series of questions about team work and goal setting so that when we begin our work, we know one another better.

The work in Lima at PPA is so worthwhile because at the orphanage the children need the love that the Global Volunteers bring and the staff appreciates the help. Each team builds on what the former teams have done and sets the stage for the next team coming in.

Being Global Volunteers we have our goals
As talents we release.
We hope our actions and our words
Will help us to wage peace.

What change did come for most of us
In culture and in weather!
Our team has had a lot of fun
Experiencing it together.

My quote today from Helen Keller
Fits all though short or tall:
"Life is an exciting adventure,
Or nothing at all."

Gratefully, Bonnie Rietz, Peru volunteer