Volunteering at Mother Teresa Charity in Cusco, Peru

Volunteering at Mother Teresa Charity in Cusco, Peru. I had a very touching experience working with severely disabled children and adults at the Mother Teresa House in Cusco, Peru, and am grateful I was given the opportunity.

If you want to volunteer read: How To Volunteer in Cusco.

I helped out for only a couple of weeks, arriving in the morning after bathtime and leaving after helping to serve lunch. I would have liked to have done more but was having a lot of fatigue from the altitude in Cusco.

This city sits at over 11,000 feet (3,400 meters) and this elevation can cause sickness in healthy folks, much less someone with fybromyalgia and CFS.

It was my choice of what to do instead of visit Machu Picchu.

The awesome teen decided to hang-out with his musician rasta friends and spend money having fun in the city rather than take a trip to the ancient Incan ruins; I think we were both a little burned-out on traveling at the time.

We had been tourists in South America for over 4 years, and I wanted to do something more substantial to contribute than just pay for housing and food and be a nice guest.

What is it Like to Volunteer?

I was nervous at the start, but had a great guide lead the way.

After emailing back and forth with an organization I found online, it was decided I could spend a little time at the Mother Teresa House. Unfortunately, I’ve lost the contact information.

The residents are severely disabled, the fact I had spent three years in nursing school when younger made me a good candidate for the job.

We met at the Plaza de Armas, and walked and talked through the streets of Cusco to the entrance near the National University of San Antonio Abad. For many Peruvians, Cusco is a college town.

I was introduced to one of the nuns, and told to come back the following morning.

I was asked not to take any photographs (they knew I was a travel writer) which of course I respected; the photo above was taken one morning on a walk to the farmers market for coffee.

You arrive and simply fall in place. After removing my coat and washing my hands, I asked what I could do to help.

I assisted with physical therapy, massaging limbs and backs while gently stretching as directed. Then came snack, more helping whom hadn’t been helped earlier and then transport to the lunch room and help to serve the homemade hot meal.

After brushing the residents teeth it was around 2 p.m. and time to leave.

One day I was asked to watch the residents while folding laundry. Everytime I looked up, someone was into something – one time one teen trying to untie the back of another teens wheelchair tie.

They got a big giggle out of the fact I had to get up and fix whatever was going on; secretly I did too 🙂

In my twenties when I traveled in Asia for nine weeks (Thailand, India and Nepal), I went to Calcutta to volunteer with Mother Teresa at her home caring for terminally ill street persons.

Again only for a short time, and again a very memorable experience.