STEP Reflection: Cusco, Peru Non-Profit Project

1. My project was the Fisher Global Non-Profit Project in Cusco, Peru. This project was a 2 week trip where we consulted with a non-profit called CBC Tupay to help their mission of sustainable tourism.
2. The transformation from my trip was two-fold. To begin, the work that I did before leaving for Peru helped me understand global business and the challenges of non-profits. There were several activities we did in the spring semester course where we researched the mission of the non-profits and I realized how different it is from other companies I have worked for. I learned a lot by getting creative to help missions relating to helping communities and native people rather than trying to maximize profit.

The second part of my transformation happened when I got into the country. The main thing I learned is that some things you can’t plan for. I was ready to spend 2 weeks in Peru and learn a lot, but instead I got extremely sick and spent 4 days in the hospital and had to go back to the U.S.

3. For the first transformation that happened before I left for the trip, I reached this realization from the class that I took spring semester. In this class, we did research on the makeup of non-profits and the mission of the ones we were paired with. By understanding these missions, my team and I were able to get in the right mindset and transform our thinking to help the non-profit.

Additionally, the interaction with our clients prior to the trip helped us realize the mission of our work. Every week during the end of the spring semester, my team had a skype call with our clients from CBC Tupay. These calls not only helped us understand the project scope and what they wanted from us, but it also taught us communication skills. The clients we spoke to didn’t speak English and none of us spoke Spanish so we had to rethink how to communicate with each other which helped increase our creativity.

Lastly, to lead to the transformation and lesson I learned in Peru, I learned this from my time spent in the Peru hospital. I had to communicate with the nurses and doctors who mostly spoke Spanish. This was incredibly hard and I was lost for 4 days as they continued to run tests and give me medication I didn’t know. What I thought would be a great trip turned into the worst week of my life, something I couldn’t plan for. Now, I will recognize that as I go into any trip in the future.

4. The first change is valuable in my life because as a person going into the field of business, it is crucial to understand the company’s mission. From this experience and transformation, I know that I will be able to do so even in different situations like for a non-profit.

The second change is valuable because now I know going into uncertain situations that things you don’t plan for can happen. Additionally, this terrible experience of having to be evacuated from a country has made me grateful for the times when I was healthy and could understand people treating me. As I am writing this, I am still recovering from the infection I caught and dealing with hospital bills from Peru and the U.S. So this lesson is one that I will take with me and understand that for upcoming trips I go on anything can happen.