My Experience at CusiMaky by Emma Farley

My name is Emma Farley. I am twenty years old and I am from the United States. I volunteered as the English teacher at CusiMaky during July of 2016. It is almost difficult to put into words my experience at CusiMaky because it changed my life. When I first arrived in Cusco, I had no idea what I was doing. I was in an unfamiliar city, and although I had traveled on my own before, I didn’t have much experience working with kids. I was nervous that I would be a bad teacher or make a mistake.

But my fears didn’t last for long. First of all, I had the other volunteers to help me with all of my questions. I immediately felt welcomed into the CusiMaky family. Jeni and Ines welcomed me like a sister, and the other volunteers from all over the world are some of the best people I have had the chance to know. During my time there I met and became friends with volunteers from Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, the UK, Hungary, Australia, and the US, just to name a few.

And of course, I got to know the amazing children for whom CusiMaky exists. From my first day of teaching them, I knew that they are children with bright minds and hearts full of love. I was constantly amazed at how the kids smiled, laughed, and loved each moment of life, even though many of them come from families who have very little. Their positive attitude and outlook on life is absolutely inspiring.

CusiMaky aims to teach these wonderful kids about nutrition and development towards becoming active and productive members of society while also helping them with their schoolwork and teaching them English. When I left Cusco to return home to the US, I left a piece of my heart at CusiMaky. I know that I will go back someday. Many volunteers travel abroad to change the world and teach others how to be successful, but I believe that many go home realizing that they themselves have been changed, and they learned a thing or two about their own lives.