Pondering Peru

9 April 2014Maddie M, Allard ‘15

Filled with travel and adventure, Spring Break is always an exciting time for Brentwood students. This was especially true when twenty-four adventurous and generous students led by Mr. Robinson, Mrs. Quinton, Mr. Doehler and Mrs. Felix filled their break with a journey to Cusco, Peru which they called home for two weeks in determined support of a local charity, Mosqoy. Mosqoy works with remote native communities to assist in development and education. The Brentwood team was involved in setting up a new learning dormitory for students of the indigenous Quechuan community. The Peru trip was something particularly exciting that students and teachers had been looking forward. It was Brentwood’s first school-lead service trip. The excursion allowed students to go beyond seeing the typical tourist destinations as they worked with their Mosqoy partners to support its programs in the Andean mountains of Peru. This once-in-a-lifetime school trip combined sightseeing with off-the-beaten-track adventuring and a service-learning project. Mosqoy was “excited to welcome Brentwood College School students as volunteers. They helped us move to our new Casa Mosqoy, and set up a home environment that is inspiring, community-oriented, and functional.” Since September, the group has held weekly meetings that included planning, preparation, and research about this exciting country. The benefits of this type of experience are infinite. This is clearly shown in the stories of the twenty-four students and their enthusiasm after the trip. As Maria F, Grade 11, reflected on her experience, “It is by far more life-changing when you get to see first hand the impact you can make on a developing country. To even have the opportunity to experience something like this was amazing. The beautiful views of Machu Picchu and our many ‘llama selfies’ are forever something I will keep as a reminder of how incredible this trip was.” With such an amazing group of students and staff, the long-awaited Peru 2014 trip was a huge success! Not only did it provide an unforgettable experience for the students and staff, but it reached out a helping hand to a community in need. This was truly an experience to be cherished not only by Brentwood students, but their new Peruvian friends as well, as lasting relationships were made in the mountains of Peru. Maddie M, Allard ‘15

Where Students Choose To Be