PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM
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For frequently asked questions about the blogs, please visit our Program Blog FAQ page.
-The Global Leadership Adventures HQ Team
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BLOG POST FOR JUNE 30
Hola from Peru!
The day has arrived and with it, all of our students!
With our best skills, knowledge, and enthusiasm, we have been preparing to start this GLA Internship Program in beautiful Pisac.
We have a full group of happy and surprisingly energetic students who are ready to learn and explore the paths of their future careers. We are prepared to facilitate this process.
After a morning of trips to the airport, we explored our little but very charming town of Pisac and its Sunday market. We look forward to writing about breathtaking treks and meaningful experiences in the next blogs.
For now, we are all off to a much-deserved night of sleep.
Bye!
– Maria Fernanda, International Director and Leader of the day!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 1
Hello!
The trip is officially underway! We started the day trying some exotic fruits bought from the local market with our breakfast. We then hopped on the bus that took us to the community where we will be doing our service work.
The bus ride took beautiful winding mountain roads up out of the Sacred Valley to an altitude of 13000 ft. The views of the mountains were incredible. Once we arrived to the Chahuaytire community we got an introduction from MEDLIFE, a non-profit organization that partners with low-income communities in Latin America and Africa to improve their access to healthcare, nutrition and self-sustaining economies.
We learned about how the community is being heavily impacted by climate change, the mountains surrounding us had no more snow or glaciers, something that would have been there ten years ago, impacting the water access they rely on to grow their food.
Since the community we are working in has no more reliable rain and water due to the receding glaciers, they have been struggling to produce food. MEDLIFE is working towards building greenhouses for all 150 families in the community. The greenhouses not only allow the plants to grow a lot faster so the farmers can have a greater yield, but they also trap moisture in the air allowing plants to grow with less water.
The community so far has around 60 greenhouses and they are growing vegetables adding more nutrients to their diet and the excess produce is being sold to other villages acting as a source of income. We will be working with two local engineers, one who grew up in the village to build water distribution systems for the greenhouses, so the villagers don’t have to carry buckets of water from the river to water the plants which is time-consuming and inefficient.
We got to then meet some of the villagers, and they taught us how they turn wool into fabrics by using plants, bugs, and even urine as dyes. We also learned about how they weave them into fabrics and make their colorful clothing. We also toured some of the greenhouses that have been built.
In the afternoon we completed orientation and got to attend a ritual led by a Quechua Shaman who taught the importance of living with your heart mind and actions and living in unity with the planet.
We finished the night buying some snacks and learning about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how our project connects to them.
Tomorrow, we get to start the service work and are looking forward to it!
Good night!
Sam – Mentor and leader of the day
BLOG POST FOR JULY 2
Today was our first day doing service work, and it was a great introduction to the work we would be doing in the coming days. Yesterday, we learned how establishing sustainable water infrastructure, like building greenhouses, promotes positive economic and nutritional development within the communities. Today, we were able to see firsthand how these projects are created.
First, the local engineer explained that we were going to create a water collection and filtration system using a natural stream that would be used to irrigate the crops in the greenhouses. It must be filtered to prevent sediment from clogging or damaging the pipelines.
We arrived at the work site where community members were already working digging and funneling the creek. Our job was to move a pile of dirt, gravel, and rock sediment from the road (where the dump truck bringing it left it) because it was obstructing traffic. The material would eventually be added to the concrete mix to reinforce it.
We also learned about topography, and the tools engineers use to create accurate measurements of slope and grade. Using a tool adjusted to be level on the x and y planes, we can accurately record the change in height between 2 locations using a leveled ruler. By measuring the distance between the two points, using trigonometry, we can calculate the percent grade. This data is necessary to calculate the flow of water, especially considering the difference in altitude’s effect on water.
Although we didn’t finish clearing the road, we learned a lot about our mission and what we were working towards. It was a very productive day.
Siddharth Sooknanan – Leader of the day
BLOG POST FOR JULY 3
Hello Everyone!
And welcome back to your place to stay up to date on Groip B’s adventures in Peru. Yesterday (Wednesday) was an action packed day! After waking up and eating our usual breakfast of delicious eggs, cereal, toast, and meat and cheese we had our 3rd day of curriculum. Here we learned about cultural humility and how people can be more aware of their own cultural norms and how they might differ from someone else’s. We scored ourselves on a set of topics, such as how nonjudgmental or flexible we are to see what our stong suits in relation to culture humility are and what skills we can continue to work on.
Next, in our day, we drove to the Maras Salt Mines. In the pictures below you can see how stunning all of the 4,200(!) salt pools are. These pools are special as they have been around for 1,500 years. They are formed from water people put on them from a river that runs along the outside of the pools. This isn’t any ordinary river, though. Millions of years ago, ocean used to cover this area of Peru. Part of this ocean still resides underground and results in the river being made up of different salts and minerals. Each family of the community owns there own pool. After they put the river water into their pool, they need to wait about 2 weeks, in Perus dry season (which is from April to November), before all of the water has evaporated and they can collect there salt in the bags seen below. One bag is worth about 6 U.S. dollars. The reason that this salt making process isn’t more industrialized or that the salt isn’t sold for more money is because people do not collect the salt just for money. They collect the salt to keep there cultural customs alive. After visiting the salt pools we had a chance to purchase some of the salt for ourselves. There were different types of salts to choose from such as bath salts or ones for food.
Moving forward in our day, we went to lake Piuray. Here, after having a delicious lunch of chicken, avocado, quinoa, and vegetables we were able to paddle board and kayak which was super fun despite for a slight breeze! During our time on the water we learned from our guide that the lake is responsible for 30% of the water supply for Cusco.
Talking about Cusco – after a soccer break and some time to relax – that is where we headed to. After checking into our hotel were we spent the night and some people eating not one, not two, but three servings of spaghetti, we went out and explored the city’s nightlife. Here we explored some shops that sold merchandise made from alpaca wool and saw a breathtaking view of all the city lights. Once we made our way back to the hotel everyone was exhausted and soon was fast asleep.
Thanks for checking in and make sure to come back tomorrow for more updates!
Zane Baker – Leader of the day
BLOG POST FOR JULY 6
Today we all woke up early to get to the work site and continue with day 2 of the water captivation project. Early on we all found and carried rocks through an assembly line to transport them to be used as the walls of our project.
Further on, we worked on new engineering practices today such as bending metal and bringing a blueprint to life. Each of us took turns bending metal rods at a 90-degree angle to be used as a support to our concrete walls. Our engineers also guided us on the measurements of the mold for the walls we will be building within the proceeding days. We also implemented using chalk lines to prepare the guidelines of the walls.
Once back home we were met by the profound environmentalist, Alessandra Yupanqui, who gave a speech and met us for dinner. Within this speech, we learned first about the cultural discrimination she faced from Peruvians in Lima after learning about the lineage of her ancestors’ culture and Quechua background. However, she explained to us how she used this turning point to fuel her in life, and now educates us and many others on the dire water issue that climate change is causing for Peruvians. Today was overall a great day and very informative for our project.
Max Saari – Leader of the Day
BLOG POST FOR JULY 7
Today we woke up, ate, and were met with a guest speaker that taught us about research and ethics in the field. She taught us who climate change affects and how it affects them.
After the guest speaker, we loaded into a bus to go to the worksite. Upon arrival we began gathering rocks and continued to shovel the pile of rocks and sand.
Once work concluded, we headed directly to a traditional ceramic making class in a local community. When we arrived we were greeted with flower petals and a beautiful scenery. After, they taught us about traditional music instruments the Incas used and we got to try some.
Finally we returned to the hotel. We ate dinner and had another guest speaker, Manuel, who taught us about energies and the effect of each type on the environment.
Dylan Powers – leader of the day
Photos coming soon!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 8
Peru first day of Machu Picchu hike!
Today was the day we had all been waiting for, the start of the hike to Machu Picchu through Lares. We started our day bright and early at 6 am, we met our guides for the day and left at 7 am. We made our first stop at a small village 30 minutes away called Calca to buy coca leaves and bread to give to the locals we would find on our hike up. 2 and a half outs later and with some beautiful views we arrived at the base of our hike. After some preparation, we got moving through the beautiful Andes meeting many alpacas and locals along the way. After our first hour and a half of hiking, we made it to lunch. We were served some amazing food as we all indulged after a long morning.
After lunch, we were fueled and prepared to take on the rest of our hike. Unlike our previous experience with flatter ground and a smooth road, we took on the mountains. This tested us pushing us to our boundaries with massive inclinations, thin air, and heavy backpacks. We hiked through clouds, the beautiful mountains, and some villages with very friendly locals. We quickly got exhausted taking multiple breaks along the way to catch our breath. Two and a half hours later we had made it to our campsite for the night feeling extremely accomplished.
After relaxing and hanging out we had some hot chocolate to warm up accompanied by crackers and popcorn. We then indulged in some amazing dinner which consisted of potato soup, chicken, and pasta. During dinner, we held our nightly meeting to reflect on our very eventful day. The beautiful night sky quickly grabbed our attention with the bright stars filling up the dark sky. Not long after we got settled into our tents and went to sleep to prepare for another day of hiking.
Oliver – leader of the day
BLOG POST FOR JULY 9
Hello everyone!
Today, we woke up at 6:00 am, just in time to see beautiful sunshine at 14,000 feet up in the mountains of the Lares Trek campsite. It was pretty cold, so the guides at the campsite gave everyone an option for hot drinks, such as hot chocolates, tea, and even coffee, which was a great way to start the day. After that, we went over to have some late breakfast at 7:30 . We had pancakes, fruit salad, granola, yogurt, and some bread. After we had breakfast, it was time to pack up our things and leave the campsite clean to continue our next part of the trek.
The second part of the trek was hiking to the highest point of the Lares Trek, approximately 14,600 feet up in the mountains. This was a very challenging part of the hike, but we finally made it to the top in about 45 minutes. The Lares Trek had officially concluded. The views were INCREDIBLE!, and we got to see what was really the purpose of this hike. We chilled for about 30 minutes at the summit, took some photos, and ate some snacks before heading our way down. The way down the mountain was so relaxing and peaceful compared to the going up part, and it was a nice time for everyone. As we were heading down, we were told that there was a pond nearby. It was beautiful! We took a bunch of pictures before finally continuing our way down for lunch.
We took about 2 and a half hours to get down the mountain to the village where we would be served our lunch. For lunch, we had potato soup, salad, chicken, rice, veggies, and some traditional yuca too. It was delicious, we were all so hungry it was great. After lunch, we took a 40-minute bus ride to Ollantaytambo, the place where we were going to take the train to Machu Picchu! We went around town for around 40 minutes and we went back to the restaurant where we initially went to leave our bags to have some dinner. This dinner was delicious, it was definitely one of the best we’ve had on this trip. After dinner, we headed out to the train station, which would take us to our hotel in Aguas Calientes, the town base of Machu Picchu. It was a 2-hour train ride all the way to the hotel we were staying at. After we arrived, we went to our rooms to get some sleep for tomorrow’s adventure. That concludes our day 11, hope you guys enjoyed it and see you guys for Machu Picchu tomorrow!!
– Enrique Ruiz – leader of the day
BLOG POST FOR JULY 10
We woke up around 6 today to catch the bus to Machu Picchu. Touring it was amazing with our excellent tour guides we learned a lot about the history surrounding the place. As the sun rose over the mountains, it illuminated all the terraces and stone structures creating a majestic view. UNESCO World Heritage site. Being up this early, we were able to get a look around and get pictures without there being too many people. The architecture of the Incan civilization was amazing and so were the breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains.
After a wonderful morning at Machu Picchu, we drove back into Aguas Calientes. The bright markets and its narrow streets offered a glimpse into local culture. Here, artisans proudly displayed their work, including clothing, toys, and classic cultural foods. Exploring these markets provided a great opportunity to purchase souvenirs but and also offered a connection to the Andean way of life, where centuries-old traditions are still carried on even in the modern day.
In conclusion, we had a wonderful day. Waking up early to be some of the first people to see the sun coming over the mountains at Machu Picchu, tour it, have lunch, and then explore the markets in Aguas Calientes afterward. We concluded the day by taking a train back to home base(Písac) having dinner, and then resting in preparation for the work days tomorrow.
Buenas Noches from the Leader Del Dia, Reagan Etheridge
BLOG POST FOR JULY 11
Hello Everyone!
Today was the first work day coming back from our 3 day excursion. Everyone was more tired than usual, but we powered through and did some great work.
We collected rocks all the way until lunch time where we ate our two delicious chicken sandwiches accompanied by a banana, a juice box, oreos, and crackers. We then got to help out making, transporting, and pouring the cement. We all learned a lot, from showing us the contraptions used as the mold, to the machine to vibrate the cement into place.
After work, we went to Potato Park where we learned about all the different types of potatoes, as well as the tools they used to grow them. There was one tool to level hilly ground, one to loosen the dirt, and one to take the potato out once it was ready to be harvested. We also got to try the tool to loosen the dirt, which was much harder to use than we initially thought. We also got to peel our own potato and eat it with a peanut dipping sauce.
After coming back home we worked on our poster projects and had our nightly meeting. A beautiful vocal performance by tomorrow’s leader of the day was a great end to our day. With that, we all were getting a little sleepy and called it a day. Goodnight!
Alex Yuan- Leader of the day
BLOG POST FOR JULY 12
Hello everyone! Today is day 13, and we followed our routine as usual. Though, we had breakfast at 8:00 am because our mentors saw that we were really tired, so they gave us an hour extra to wake up which was really nice. We had our breakfast and Hans cam to give us our briefing for the morning. After that, we went to our worksite. We did the same thing we did yesterday (make concrete mix and pour it on the wall) onto the left side of the wall. We also excavated an area 30 cm deep in the river to set up a rock base for the water to flow. It was really interesting and it finally started to come together! We had our lunch and we went back to work an hour later. We continued pouring the concrete mix until we finished.
Then we went back to Pisac to have our guest speaker, Mark Gregory, which talked us about his initiative of Chasing Glaciers. His presentation was awesome, it really shows how any human can make a difference in the world by changing perspectives of certain things! After the guest speaker’s presentation, we had time to prepare for our group presentations. Later, all the groups presented and there were some really great presentations! At 6:30 pm we had our dinner (Hamburgers and fries!) and it was SOO good all of us enjoyed it. After that we had our nightly meeting, and we had some announcements for the next day. That concludes day 13, great day today, a lot of progress was made in the project. See you guys tomorrow!!
– Enrique
BLOG POST FOR JULY 13
Today we woke up to another day of service. We quickly rose out of bed, ate breakfast, and received our orientation from our civil engineer. We learned more about the design and complexities of our project and what work had to be done for the day.
Once we arrived at the worksite, we got to work filling in a bed of rocks and creating another 30cm deep rectangular hole. This had taken up our whole morning however we had a very present visit from a professional photographer we got some amazing group and individual photos to treasure.
After an amazing lunch, we received an amazing gift, a concrete mixer. This made our work so much easier and more efficient. Unfortunately, we had some trouble getting the concrete mixer started but once it began to we became more efficient than I had seen our whole trip. We then used our concrete to fill in our bed of rocks which went by so quickly.
Returning to home base we were all tired and filthy with concrete all over us. Our amazing director Fernanda had made us a lot of popcorn when we returned. After many showers and some time to relax, we had our seventh curriculum session where we learned about our final personal and optional professional projects.
We ended our night with a trip to the store, some dinner and our nightly meeting where we were greeted about our upcoming trip. Some of us after dinner decided to go visit the festival site right beside us which is starting the 14th of July in Pisac which was incredibly fun for those who attended. We then finally made our way to bed exhausted and excited for our upcoming trip.
Oliver Gilmer – leader of the day!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 14
Today, we woke up early and set off for our homestay. After driving for a while, we made a brief stop at the Tipon archeological site, where we learned about the Inca’s methods of irrigation and agriculture. Once we finished exploring, we returned to the car and drove a bit further until we reached our next destination, a pre-Inca site. We enjoyed an hour-long hike there before returning to the bus to continue our journey.
Upon arrival at the homestay in Raqchi community, we were warmly greeted by the locals. We were divided into three groups and taken to different houses, where we were shown to our rooms and rested until lunch. Lunch was a delicious traditional meal consisting of soup, a vegetable mix, and a chicken dish. Afterward, we gathered at one of the houses for a ceramics demonstration.
Following the ceramics class, our group split up: some stayed to continue making ceramics, while others decided to play soccer. A local kid guided us to the soccer field, and we played until dark. Afterward, we returned to our houses for dinner. Following dinner, the locals dressed us in traditional clothing, and we all reconvened for a traditional ceremony in which we worshipped Mother Earth and made wishes for our futures. After the ceremony, we received a briefing about our upcoming hike to the top of Rainbow Mountain.
The day concluded with a dance around a fire. An Andean woman led us in a traditional dance, clasping our hands as we moved to the rhythm. By the time the dance ended, everyone was exhausted, and we all retired to our rooms for a well-deserved rest.
Dylan Powers – Leader of the day
BLOG POST FOR JULY 15
Imagine waking up super early in the Andes Mountains of Peru. It’s chilly but exciting because you know today will be special.
We started with a great breakfast in a small village where indigenous people live. The place felt cozy, and the people were nice.
After breakfast, we drove to Rainbow Mountain. The roads were twisty, but the views of the mountains and llamas were amazing!
When we got to Rainbow Mountain, we hiked up to see it. The mountain had these crazy colors—reds, yellows, greens—all natural! It was tough because of the high altitude, but so worth it for the view.
Next, we went to a lodge by a river. We did this cool zip line across the river and back. Flying over the trees and water was such a rush!
After that, we had a nice dinner at the lodge. We ate local food and sat around a campfire under the stars.
From meeting locals to hiking Rainbow Mountain and zipping through the trees, every moment was of this day was unforgettable.
Reagan – Leader of the day
BLOG POST FOR JULY 16
The day started with a breakfast of eggs and toast. After that, we got ready for the long-awaited white water rafting!
We first got changed into our gear, which included the wetsuit, shoes, water jacket, life jacket, and helmet. Promptly, we drove 15 minutes upstream where we got a safety briefing, as well as instructions on what to do while in the water. We learned the commands to tell us which action to perform while on the water. There was “Forward” and “Back” which meant to paddle forward and backwards, “Right back, Left forward” to turn clockwise, and “Left back, Right forward” to turn counter-clockwise. Usually, you sit on the top part of the raft, so when we went over bumpy and turbulent waters, the guide would say “All in” which went to get your whole body into the raft. And to get back out they would say “Back to positions.” After all the fun, the cold and numbness got to many of us. Thankfully, there was a hot sauna waiting for us, which many of us enjoyed thoroughly. We then had a great lunch, said goodbye to everyone, and headed home.
Today is also the first day we are back for the Virgen Del Carmen, the biggest celebration of the year in Pisac. So we took a stroll around town to check out what was going on. In the town square, there was a crowd gathered around a band and dancers. They were all wearing bright-colored clothes and masks too. There were also many small vendors selling things like sunglasses, cotton candy, and popcorn.
We then came back to homebase to work on our projects, had dinner, and to end it off another great nightly meeting.
Alex Yuan – Leader of the day!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 17
Today we woke up back at home base to prepare for another service day. The group traveled to the worksite and was greeted by the plenty of progress made after much of the concrete had dried. We then proceeded to arrange rock across the floor to prepare for the final few concrete installations. Our project is close to finished and the group looks forward to pouring the final concrete tomorrow to finish off.
After the service work, the group went and checked out Group A’s project and learned about this alternate water captivation system. We learned about how engineers select their project design by analyzing both the geography and the water needs of the community. The dam system was impressive and expanded our idea of engineering possibilities.
Lastly, we ended the day off by visiting a community for a textiles demonstration. The local community lady showed us how to cut, clean, stretch, and dye the alpaca fur. Each color is made with different natural herbs or plants brewed at 45-minute increments with the fur. Many of us then got the chance to knit the fur into handmade bracelets and received one as a gift to take home. We thanked the community and drove back to home base after rwards to finish off the day.
Max Saari – Leader of the day
BLOG POST FOR JULY 18
Hello Everyone, and welcome back!
After our usual morning routine of waking up and eating breakfast, we did the unusual.
Instead of going directly to our service site, we went on a hike at Kinsa Cocha. In Quechua, Kinsa Cocha means three lakes. The two of those three lakes that we saw on our hike were stunning! As our guide led us through grazing sheep and alpacas we learned some cool facts about the environment we were in. We were at an elevation of 13,800 feet/ 4,206 meters. One cool fact we learned was that when there is too much animal grazing in a certain area, a small fluffy looking cactus grows there. When the cactus decomposes, it produces the nutrients needed to make that area of land fertile again.
Around 11:30 we made our way to our work site. This day was special because it was our last work day! Once there, we helped to mix concrete. We did not have a mixer this day, which made things a bit more difficult, but there were enough of us to have everything run efficiently. The process of mixing the concrete consisted of combining an approximent amount of dirt and small stones together with a bag of cement and water from the river. After everything was thoroughly mixed, we put it in to wheelbarrows and buckets and brought it to fill in the sites wall molds and flooring.
After arriving back to the home base and taking a well deserved shower, everyone had an incredible dinner of baked chicken and rice. After eating and having our nightly meeting – where we had a recap of the day – everyone got ready for bed and continued to prepare for the presentations we had been working on for the last couple of days that we presented the following morning.
Zane Baker – Leader of the day
BLOG POST FOR JULY 19
Today was our final internship day and we began it with a late morning wake up for our final breakfast. We all headed down to an auditorium where we presented our reflections and an optional engineering-related project. This perfectly wrapped up the experience and everyone shared many of their takeaways from the program, plans for the future, and engineering interests.
Proceeding that, we had a ceremony at both Group A & B’s worksites. Many community members, Medlife, GLA members, and the Pisac mayor came to celebrate the project. We broke a vase as a celebration ritual and seeing the complete result of all our work was extremely rewarding. Along with that, we got the opportunity to meet many Group A peers.
To finish off the day, we returned to the auditorium and had one final reflection. The reflection made us think about short and long-term goals to set. We spent our final dinner together and had a great dish of burgers from our chefs. 9 men, worlds apart, came together, boys to men.
Zachai – Leader of the day
