What started out as a spontaneous decision to attend an information session with a friend would turn into one of the most inspiring and life changing weeks for TCNJ junior Anna Poruks. The psychology/pre-med student volunteered in Lima, Peru in May at a mobile clinic and also worked on a construction project in one of Lima’s most poverty stricken areas, Pamploma Alta.
TCNJ’s chapter of the international organization MEDLIFE held an information session for students interested in traveling and volunteer work a few months before a trip to the outskirts of Lima would take place. “[The meeting] happened to fall right when I had some time to kill between class and another meeting, so I decided to just go and see what it was all about,” says Anna.
Leaving the information session, Anna felt like this was the perfect opportunity to for her to live out one of her personal dreams. “All my life, all I have wanted to do was travel the world and help others, but have never found any realistic opportunities to do so,” she says.
After quickly raising over $600 dollars in donations through a personal fundraising page MEDLIFE sets up for each student in order to help with costs, Anna left the country for her first time.
“I spent the week touring the many diverse areas of Lima, soaking up the local culture, speaking Spanish for the first time ever, and volunteering in Lima’s poorest community called ‘Pamplona Alta,’ along with 26 other students from colleges all over America, Canada, and Puerto Rico,” says Anna.
The volunteers set up mobile clinics in various areas of the community where they provided free doctor, dentist, and gynecological services, as well as valuable health education. They also worked on a construction project to build stairs for a mountaintop community called Buena Vista.
“I learned so much about an area that I never knew existed, met so many amazing people, and gained appreciation for everything that I take for granted in my life,” says Anna. “I am now positive that I want to continue my studies in psychology so I can keep helping others for the rest of my life, and I am definitely going to do anything that I can to do something like this again some time soon!”
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“To you, this might just be a pair of stairs. But to me, this is one of the greatest accomplishments I have ever had. And most importantly, to the people of Buena Vista, Pamplona Alta (a poverty-stricken community on the outskirts of Lima, Peru), this is a valuable blessing to their daily lives. These people go through indescribable hardships just to survive without the things that most of us take for granted, but are still some of the most generous, kind-hearted, and inspiring people that I have ever met.” -Anna Poruks