Peru Study Abroad Trip: An Eye-opener, by Jacob Schmidt and Kevin Finch

Excerpted from Madonna Herald article:

Madonna University student traveled to Peru on a Study Abroad trip in early March. These students stayed in Lima, Cusco, and Machu Picchu over the eight days. While on the trip, they visited Inca ruins, Spanish churches, various museums, the Sacred Valley, Picol Grade School, and many other beautiful places. 

To quote Lawrence Durell, "Travel can be one of the most rewarding forms of introspection." However, there is a huge difference between traveling to serve and traveling to learn. Service takes time, and its success is measured by the outcomes that benefit the people being served. The students who traveled for this Study Abroad trip learned a great deal about Peru’s culture. 

Students travel to developing countries all over the world, with service as the objective, all the time. Traveling is not the problem, and service is not the problem, but the skewed lines between service and vacation are major problems. Students, no matter how great their intention, can do more harm than good.

During many study abroad trips and mission trips, the idea of service is perceived as a strict adherence to "helping out the little guy, because he is so unfortunate." This is a demoralizing and damaging view of the world and the people in it. Although serving in other countries is a great idea and should be pursued, it should not be the objective of a week-long trip to a foreign land. So the question remains, what makes traveling so encouraging? The answer is simply to learn.

Study abroad trips give students the opportunity to learn from other people. Learning the history, economy, and way of life in other countries enhance Madonna students’ abilities to help at home in their own community.