Previous Recipients - Dana Arakawa

How do I begin to describe my two months studying, volunteering, and living in Peru? I came to Peru without clear expectations, excited and nervous about my first time being abroad on my own. As I look back on my experience of the Volunteer in Peru program, I am filled with joy and appreciation for the countless priceless memories I made, all thanks to the generosity of the InterExchange Foundation.

Besides the nostalgia I feel for everything wonderful about Peru—the friends I made, the amazing Inca culture, the delicious food—as I cleaned my room upon my return, I was struck by how much my experience in Peru has changed me. I wanted to get rid of all my old clothes, jewelry, books, etc., realizing how little I really need and how much these things would be appreciated by someone else. Specifically, I desperately wished I could send practically everything in my room back to Peru, to the Casa Acogida/Virgin Natividad, a detention home for young girls pulled off the street for prostitution.

I volunteered at Virgin Natividad for one month, arriving every afternoon to the joyful welcome of eleven girls who each kissed me on the cheek to say hello. Before meeting the girls, I anticipated that working with them would be more difficult, that they would be more hardened to the world. Instead, every time I came, I felt their joyful appreciation for my presence. They would affectionately take me by the arm, and we’d play volleyball, make jewelry, or just sit and talk. Some days I felt restless because I felt like I wasn’t doing anything to make an impact with the girls; I had expected to talk with them about the difficulties of their past, to listen to their stories of running away from home or being sold into prostitution by their broken families—but their pasts rarely came up.