(June 13-20, 2004)

Sixteen Davidson College alumni joined together for a week of service, cultural exchange and adventure in the mountains of Peru. The trip offered them a chance to partner with local residents to face global issues and become part of sustainable solutions.

It was a wonderful opportunity to commune with residents in a rural province of a country that is home to nearly a tenth of the world’s rainforests, a long coast along the South Pacific Ocean and the starkly beautiful Andes mountain chain.

Ayacucho is home to the 1,500-year-old Quechua culture, which was adopted by the Incas more than 600 years ago. Quechua culture has its own language, dress, religion and social system that has been preserved in Ayacucho. During the 20th century, many inhabitants fled to cities for work, leaving towns like Ayacucho untouched by technological advancements and lacking in basic needs and res