In the summer of 2018, 18 Pleasant Valley Spanish students traveled to volunteer with students at a school in Las Lomas, a community in Ventanilla, Peru. This annual trip started three summers ago with only six students. Headed by Stephanie Risius, a Spanish teacher at Pleasant Valley, the group’s time was spent playing games and engaging in activities over the 10 day trip.
Together, the children from the school in Las Lomas and the Spartans created bonds by participating in activities such as swimming with sea lions, traveling to the sand dunes in Huacachina and going on a tour of the catacombs in Lima. The group of traveling Spartans were able to attend and watch the children’s soccer games and participate in their youth group.
Students who went on this trip did so because they had a fundraiser to make it happen. Much of the funding for this trip was done through the Pleasant Valley Spanish department by selling coffee, flowers and cupcakes. Junior Carly Lundry said, “I understand that it’s hard to see the importance in raising money for people in need because you can’t see the effects directly. After seeing for myself how differently their lives are lived compared to ours, I highly encourage every student to find ways to help.”
If it were not for these groups of Spanish students who spent time to fundraise, they would not have been able to travel to Peru to impact these kids’ lives in such a substantial way. Although the goal of the trip was to positively impact and spend time with kids in less fortunate circumstances than their own, the Spartans were equally, if not more, influenced by their time in Peru.
Regarding the circumstances that the Peruvian children were living in, Lundry says, “Their attitude towards life is inspiring because they are always happy and smiling, no matter the situation, even if they don’t have a lot to be happy about, which gives us a different perspective about our own lives.”
Because Risius stayed in Peru for seven weeks this summer, while three different groups of students flew down to stay each month, she was able to understand the kids in Peru more than her students. Risius continually goes on this trip because many people don’t understand the impact that they have on others when volunteering; this experience was special to her because she is able to see the impact that it leaves with the children in Peru, as well as the students from Pleasant Valley.
She said, “It’s good for our PV kids to go and realize that people live very differently than we do; not that either one is good or bad. The experience is just understanding the other issues that other people have.”
She mentions the different issues thrust upon parts of the world; when describing daily issues Pleasant Valley students may encounter juxtaposing those of the Peruvian students, Risius refers to Homecoming. While a student in the Pleasant Valley community could be deciding on what dress to buy for the dance, they most likely aren’t thinking about what this dress would mean to other people: the cost of a dress like this could feed a family of five, in Peru, for months.
The main goal of this trip to Peru was to have a fun experience where Spanish students could put their skills to the test while having some fun working with these kids. However, it can have some pretty lasting impressions. Graduated Spartan, Kate Mickle, attended the trip in August and described how it strongly impacted her.
Wishing to either major or minor in Spanish during her college years, Mickle reflected, “This trip was extremely eye opening because we not only got to experience another culture but we also realized how much we take for granted in the United States. This opportunity helped me decide what I want to do later in life and made me more motivated in school after seeing that several children in Peru would love the chance to go to college in the United States.”
Just as these travels opened Mickle’s eyes to several opportunities of what she can do after graduation, it has helped other students with other sorts of issues, according to Risius. She remembers a time on a past trip when a student struggling with depression accompanied her to Peru. After giving time, energy, and love to those in the community, light was able to be seen at the end of the tunnel and this student’s entire perspective on life had changed; they saw the vicissitudes in ways of living and understood how they could help others.
These trips to Peru are just one example of how Spartans are traveling the world to learn more and to help others; the Pleasant Valley community is constantly expanding and growing in their ways in which they can make a mark on the world. Impactful events such as these from Spartans do not go unnoticed.
