This post features student writing.
After spending the night in Pisac, we got on the bus to travel to Qenqo, a small village outside of Cusco. We were introduced to the locals, who sang a welcome song for us, and then we danced and played games with the local children. Village women greeted us by putting flower petals on our heads. We got settled in our rooms and the community’s president gave us a brief tour of the village. We had free time until dinner, which was spent talking and playing cards, and after dinner we headed straight to bed.
On Tuesday, some students woke up early to help out in the kitchen and after everyone ate breakfast, we split up to do service work. Some of us helped carry construction materials to the building Putney groups have been helping to construct during past trips. Others helped a villager with garden work by helping him weed his field and plant seeds, and the rest of the group helped a young mother harvest green beans. After lunch, some students went on a quick hike while others rested after a long morning. We played frisbee and futbol with the village children before dinner. After a group meeting where we got to know each other better, and a dinner of chicken and rice, we turned in for the night, exhausted after another long but fun day.
On Wednesday, we had fresh fruit and sweet bread for breakfast before heading out to do another morning of service work. The majority of the group continued to carry supplies, mainly large bags of sand and cement, to the worksite. A few students assisted some villagers with painting the wall of a house. After lunch, we all met up with the village president to hike to a Sacred Lake higher up the mountain. The hike was about 30-40 minutes and we all got a birdseye view of the village and great pictures of the Andes Mountains. The lake was beautiful and a few brave group members chose to take a quick swim in the cold water. We hiked back down the mountain and rested before dinner. We had our nightly group meeting after dinner and headed to bed, excited for another day in the village.
~Lucy K. and Adri C.
