Volunteer Experience Abroad

While adjusting to American life, I wanted to give back to my home country. I brainstormed, spearheaded, and founded “The Ashima Project” (translated to “The Sky’s the Limit”) a project-driven with the purpose of providing young children in a community in Lima, Peru called San Antonio. I wanted to give back in the field of education, by sending them goods to thrive and continue their education in the nation. By the end of my sophomore year, I had most of the events planned and ready to be executed within the next two years. The project, at times, became extremely time-consuming as there is so much planning and review to do, yet since its very beginning, there was not a single time I didn’t love what I was doing.

I still remember getting the results from the first drive made back in December of 2018, a day before Christmas. The pictures and videos I received were more than enough to fulfill my heart and feel satisfied as if I had helped a little. The donations continued until I had the chance to experience the drive myself in the Summer of 2019. After a month of preparing the goods and despite the time it took to get to San Antonio, each family welcomed me with open arms. I was able to donate to over 50 families and by the end of the year make ‘mini-libraries’ around San Antonio. I started Ashima with the objective to provide young children in Peru with the proper resources they need to continue school and leave the cycle of poverty many of these families live in. Education is one of the most important factors in a child’s life and moving to the US made me realize not many children have this opportunity. I hope to continue to give back to my community in Lima, Peru by establishing non-profit organizations before my undergrad degree.