If you have the opportunity to use the world as your classroom, do it! International service learning teaches you many things; not only will you gain an appreciation for different cultures and for humanity, but you’ll gain a better sense of who you are as an individual and the impact that your lifestyle has on a global scale. When abroad, you’re challenged to immerse yourself in a new culture, and when you return home, you’ll be challenged to think differently. I can’t think of a better experience to engage in your passions and learn from the people and environments around you.

In the Fall of 2014, I had the privilege of working with Isabel Uriarte Latorre, co-founder of the Café Femenino initiative and the executive director of PROASSA, a Fairtrade and Organic coffee exporter in Northern Peru. As a Planning student, I was able to work on rural planning projects both at the office in Chiclayo and in several rural coffee-producing communities. Some of the projects I worked on included a Community Centre design concept for the community of Penachí, a Community Development Plan for the village of Tallapampa, and a healthy homes research report. While in Peru, I also worked on my undergrad thesis which focused on planning for small-scale coffee tourism in the community of Agua Azul. I will forever be grateful for the people I met, the places I saw, and the overall lessons I learned.

While in Peru, I came to the conclusion that my two passions in life (urban planning and international development), are closely related. Having the opportunity to work with coffee producers on community projects really was a dream come true for me. It made me come to the realization that urban planning can have a huge impact on the quality of life in the developing world, and it became my career objective to find a job that would allow me to explore this relationship further.

 

“Las experiencias que tienes como estudiante son las que te van a formar por el resto de su vida."

 

“The experiences you have as a student are the ones that will influence you for the rest of your life."

Isabel Uriarte Latorre

I feel that international learning experiences provide a far greater perspective on life than can ever be learned within the confines of a classroom. Empathy is one of the greatest skills one can learn but one that can’t always be learned via conventional means.

My placement was at PROASSA working on the Café Femenino brand of coffee. My office was located in Chiclayo, Peru in the north of the country. I spend a good amount of my time in the city but also frequented the various communities in the Andes and Amazonas where the coffee was grown and harvested. I worked on branding of Café Femenino including photography, website, and product packaging in a Project Manager role.

I used a lot of what I learned during my summer in Peru when working at my next internship at Amazon the following summer as an UX Design Intern. I hope to work in an international role in the future thanks to the seeds that were planted through Beyond Borders.

When I committed to Beyond Borders at the end of my first year of University it changed how I approached my school and career by fusing my passions of people and technology together. I learned so much about myself through the process in class and in the field through my placement at Café Femenino in Peru.

I think experiences like these are so important for individual growth and learning. Although you travel with another person, you are challenged on an individual level. You are able to grow and learn from amazing people, people who have much more difficult circumstances than you can ever imagine, yet you would never know.  I think experiences like these allow you to grow without the pressures that exist here at home. You can become whoever you want to be and not have to worry about what other people think. This experience allows you the freedom to learn about the world without restrictions.

I was in Cabrera, D.R. working for an organization that runs a school and free summer day camp. During my placement I helped teach Geography, English and a reading group. On Wednesday afternoon we run clubs, so my partner Allison and I did a yoga/ Zumba club. I also worked at a Puentes which a local preschool. We helped organize the year end concerts and prom. Then we had 3 weeks of setting up for camp which was mostly manual labour. Followed by 8 weeks of being a camp counsellor, working 4 weeks on court sports and 4 weeks on field sports.

This experience has taught me a lot about myself. It helped to solidify my need for volunteer work with kids in my life. It helped me come to better terms with what I didn't want to do post grad. And it really helped to remind me to prioritize the important things in my life.  I have a tendency to do a lot of things and coming back from this experience really helped me realize that I need to make time for the important things in my life including volunteer work and physical activity. It is really hard to put into the words the things that I have learned as a result of this program. I will never forget the people I have met, the relationships I have built and the lessons I have learned as a result of the program.

Words cannot describe how the experience changed me. It taught me so much about what is important in life, things like family, friends and faith. I learned to look at time differently now, things that appeared so important before I left, mean nothing in comparison to how I saw them when I returned.