Albergue Hatun Soncco Wasi is a place in the hills of Cusco Peru that provides for kids who live in more remote villages outside of Cusco to come and stay and go to school. A group of about seventeen kids start arriving on Sunday night and they stay for a week. They all have their own bed and are well fed and cared for.

But the shelter has no support other than donations and volunteers. And that’s how I got here. I wanted to get as close to the culture as I could and be of some service while I was in Peru. I searched “voluntourism” sites and found Globe Aware. They have programs all around the world where people need help in places like this school. I pay a fee,  live here for a week, I get to work up close and personal with these kids and the school gets a donation along with a worker (me) who does whatever they need doing.

I’m very aware that traipsing off to a foreign country to help the underprivileged is something that privileged people do. I’m not diluting myself by thinking I’ve saved the world or anything, but I genuinely want to learn and figure out how to be a better citizen of the world and I’m not sure how else to do it. During my week I’ll be playing with these amazing kids and helping them with their English homework. I’ll also be painting the building and helping to organize.

These kids are amazing. They smile and laugh a lot and give lots of hugs.  I’m learning what real privilege is and it’s not in the advantages of my skin color, gender or place of birth. That’s a delusion, not a privilege.  It’s a privilege to be here with all these kids, to be helping out and to have my eye’s and my heart opened ever wider.