Many days have passed now since we began working on the site at the school. Our “Tierra de los Ninos” project is coming along wonderfully. We have been working on the two terraces on plants and raised beds. Our stone walls are omnipresent across the worksite. I think I speak for more than one when I say that stone walls are a lot harder to make than they look! The recycling center is a brilliant purple from hours of painting and the mural is looking fantastic. We might even be able to add another section to it! All in all the work around the site is rumbling on and spirits remain high. Although nearing our last day, it seems as though we just arrived. Ciao!

-Jack Cohen


Last night, Cullen, Josh, Miguel and I made chicken parmesan for our host family, except we didn’t have chicken breasts, or mozzarella or parmesan cheese. So instead we used chicken thighs and legs and generic cheese. Miguel dubbed the dish Tomato Chicken Drum Generico, Peruvian Style. It actually turned out to be incredible. Our host mother thought it was hilarious that four boys were making dinner for the family. Our host family really liked the dish and it was a great experience for all. Today, our host mother promised to teach us how to make Chicha Morada soup, a great dish of deep purple gelatin-like soup with bananas in it. It was interesting to see how cooking unites people from around the world. I just wish we had more time to cook more foods for our family!

-Zach Baharozian

Tierra de Ninos has made so much progress in the past couple of weeks. The terraces are finally completely built, and the fence is almost complete. On one of the more interesting days, Abby and I broke up manure by hand for fertilizer. The mural and recycling center look great and are almost done being painted. All that is left is to mix cement for the last fence posts, level the terraces, and plant. It’s been so rewarding to see this place go up as a result of our hard work. It will be very hard to leave it.

Molly Belsky