Why Peru . . . and How Did I Get Here?

Machu Picchu in 2002; Age 18

I was born and raised in Napa, California. I originally learned Spanish in school but did not gain fluency until I volunteered at a project for people with disabilities in rural mainland Mexico during the summer I turned 16. Three days after graduating from high school I took off for South America to spend 4 months exploring Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Peru, beginning my 18th year on the road. I traveled for the most part alone, but give great credit to being able to speak the language. On my last afternoon in Cusco I met a woman who had started an orphanage in rural lands about an hour outside the city. After completing my first year of college at UCSD I returned to Peru to live and work at the orphanage--Casa de Milagros--situated in the Sacred Valley between Cusco and Machu Picchu. After four months of living and working there I came to know the people and the region fairly intimately and they will forever be an important part of my heart. I returned the following summer to visit the children at the Casa once more.

It has now been 7 years since the last time I was in Peru. In that time I completed a degree in International Studies at UCSD, held a variety of jobs both related to my degree and not, traveled to various other places and parts of the world, hiked the Pacific Crest Trail with the man that became my husband, worked on a farm in Hawaii and most recently I have begun to pursue a degree in nursing. I hope to combine my background in International Studies with the skills of a nurse to do exactly the kind of work this medical mission intends. So when my aunt (a doctor at UCSF) called me several months ago to tell me about a medical mission organized by her colleague Rosa Ten in the part of Peru I know best, about her own plans to participate and about how she would need an interpreter . . . just imagine how long it took for me to make the decision to come along!

Deep thanks to Dr. Rosa Ten for organizing this trip, for providing this unique opportunity for us all to be a part of something meaningful and greater than ourselves, and for all the work she has done for the people of Peru by returning every year (for nearly ten years now!) . . . she is an inspiration and a shining example of genuine human being.