The following post features student writing.

Today we woke up in the cold yet cozy village of Sihua. We ate a delicious breakfast full of fruit and dulce de leche pancakes and then ventured out in our separate groups to continue working on our bathroom projects. My group cut straw and then walked barefoot through a big pile of mud in order to mix the soil, water, and straw to make adobe bricks. After being soaked up to our knees in mud and putting mud under our eyes in a warrior manner, we ate chicken, vegetables, rice, and fried yucca for lunch. We worked for four hours in the morning and then another three in the afternoon. My group completed over a hundred adobe bricks by the time we quit working to go tour the school. The school is a beautiful white and blue building that houses classes for kindergarten through sixth grade. The teachers were so welcoming and loved telling us what they teach the children and the way the Peruvian school system works. The first graders were still at school when we visited because they were working on making a book about the Incas. The children were so friendly and wanted to talk and play with us. This experience (traveling with Putney) has given all of us a new perspective on life and the people in this village have taught us more than we ever could have learned at home. I have learned what it really means to live off the land. The adobe bricks the people of Sihua use are completely natural and all of their meals are cooked with firewood, not gas. I have learned what it means to work hard and work for every penny through both building the bathrooms and cooking and cleaning after meals.

– Rose