Having just returned from the Planeterra Peru tour, I can now reflect on this journey of a lifetime. After spending several years traveling and volunteering in South America I can honestly say that there are no words to adequately describe how meaningful this experience was for me and for the local people we encountered.

We began our adventure by boarding a small plane and heading to the highlands of northern Peru and travelling 7 hours by bus along a spectacular mountain road that wound through the mountains and valleys and gave us a glimpse into the lives of people in a place that so few travellers have the opportunity to visit.

Rural Peruvian Life

Our journey took us to the rural community of Cadmalca, a place where the people live as they have for hundreds of years, in houses made of adobe, working in the fields growing mainly potatoes and corn, and tending to their cattle. In just three days the people of Cadmalca opened their hearts and homes to us as we experienced the essence of what Peru and it’s people are really about.

Our time in Cadmalca was a true cultural experience, one that you could never find along the gringo trail. The purpose of our visit was to help build a Peruvian cooking stove for a host family. Families in Cadmalca have spent generations cooking indoors over an open fire, resulting in respiratory problems, eye infections and burns. Upon entering their kitchens, you can smell the smoke and see the pitch black stains on the walls behind the fire pits. With the help of our wonderful local guide, Mercedes, we learned how to build a Peruvian cooking stove out of adobe and cement, and a chimney that would take the smoke up and out of their homes allowing for a cleaner and healthier home.

Host Family Generosity

We divided into pairs, which enabled us to have a more intimate experience with our host families. After spending two mornings at the home of Napoleon and Angelica, we were presented with two of their plumpest live guinea pigs in appreciation of our work. I was touched by their generosity as in Peru the guinea pig is considered a local delicacy.

After saying our goodbyes, we walked through the fields to the home where our two other group members had just completed their stove. The mother of the family, who had initially appeared shy and timid, stood up in front of everyone. With tears in her eyes, she thanked us for coming all the way from Canada to build her a stove, as it would change the lives of herself and her family forever. For such a small woman, she stood tall saying that no matter where they were in the world that she would think of them every day as she prepared the meals for her family. As my eyes welled up with tears, I looked at the members of my group and our local guides to see that they too were wiping away the tears. It was a moment that touched all of us and one that I will never forget. It’s so rare that in our lives we are truly able to make a difference in the lives of others in such a short amount of time, but on this occasion we were able to see the impact that our visit would have on our local host families now and in the future.