The view on my walk from upper campus to lower campus yesterday evening. The physical beauty of this place is matched by the beauty of the people here.

When I applied for this volunteer experience, I was in the middle of reading Greg Mortenson's "Three Cups of Tea." The book is about his work building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan to ensure that children, especially girls, were able to get an education. Finding this opportunity while being inspired by his work was thrilling, and it feels like it was really meant to be.

My work as a social worker in the US and a volunteer down here in South America has been centered around my desire to empower people and work with them on their journey. Back in the states, I worked with families in a safe shelter, young people in a community center (The Garage in Burnsville), and families at an elementary school--- with a huge emphasis on making sure that their needs were met so that they were able to succeed in school. Here in South America, I have been volunteering with women and children, helping them with their homework and English, while learning about their life stories. This experience here at Carmen Pampa is a perfect way to wrap up my time down here. And I can't help but think of Greg Mortenson's work. I am not comparing myself to him... I am comparing the work that Carmen Pampa is doing and all the people who founded this college and continue to keep it going.

On the "Three Cups of Tea" website, it says: Mortenson advocates girls’ education as the top priority to promote economic development, peace and prosperity, and says, “you can drop bombs, hand out condoms, build roads, or put in electricity, but until the girls are educated a society won’t change”.

There is a magnet on our fridge here that says "Teaching today touches tomorrow" and it reminds me of all the little things my gramma has had around her house and office while I was growing up, showing the importance of education and reading. I get so excited when I hear the stories of the people here. I've never seen a group of young people so excited to go to college. Every person I have talked with talks about how lucky they are to be here and how thankful they are. I will work on sharing their stories on here so that you can learn from them and get excited too.