Utah Valley University students study in Peru
24.07.2014
Dr Sara Ulloa, Associate Professor of Utah Valley University (UVU) Languages Department and Advisor to the Sustainable Mountain Development Club at UVU, led a group of 19 students to immerse themselves in the language and culture in Peru while providing service to Andean communities in May 2014.
Participants in the UVU Study Abroad Programme visited several places in Cusco and La Libertad to build bridges of understanding between mountain communities in Utah and the Andes. UVU students researched the influence of the high altitude and remoteness on the living conditions of families, children and women in particular in Peruvian Andes.
The Study Abroad Programme was held as a follow up to the Third International Conference Women of the Mountains, which UVU co-hosted in 2012 in Puno, Peru. The Conference in 2012 helped establish closer relationships between Utah, and the mountain communities and their families living in the high altitudes of the Peruvian Andes. One of the outcomes of the gathering in 2012 was the decision for UVU to create a study abroad programme to bring faculty and students in order to continue work on the issues of gender and sustainable mountain development in Peru.
During their stay in Peru, the students met local people from the villages neighbouring Cusco and Trujillo and experienced first-hand how it is to live in Andean communities. They also helped locals with schoolwork and brought school supplies and toys for children. In addition, plans for future cooperation between Utah and Peru, UVU and Cusco, in particular, were discussed.
Faculty and students also visited local universities and discussed with local hosts plans for educational exchanges and mutual cooperation. Local scholars and faculty also expressed strong interest to attend the Fourth International Women of the Mountains, which UVU will co-host in October 2015.
UVU faculty and students were thrilled to visit famous Machu Picchu and other touristic sites. Andean tour taught them about great heritage and skills in architecture of ancient Inca Empire, who were able to reach high peaks of civilization in such harsh environment of the mountainous Andes. Read more
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