6. This time in South America convinced you to stay involved on a more lasting level with the people of Peru. In particular you wanted to do something for a fishing town called Mancora. Please tell us how you got the idea to create a non-profit international development organization.

After our travels, my friend and I ended up in a small fishing community in Northern Peru, 19 hours north of Lima by bus, and about an hour south of the border to Ecuador. Again, we were completely surprised to see another part of Peru so different from all we'd seen thus far. Mancora is in a desert climate, so it is very dry and sunny, and the town has little infrastructure. Many people don't have running water, and most who do only have it a few hours every other day or so. The power cuts out unexpectedly, and safe clean drinking water is not readily available or affordable. Also, there were no social services and very limited access to health care, unless one could afford to pay for it.

The town's dependance on a once-booming fishing industry is rapidly changing to a dependance on tourism. A big El Nino in 1989 caused much grief for the town, which was isolated for 15 days, but it also created a beautiful beach which is now popular with surfers year-round.

As social work students, we were mostly working with women in the community, and we met an amazing couple who had started a small NGO (Non-governmental Organization, or not-for-profit organization) to try and help the people in the community in various ways. My friend and I spent the rest of our time in Peru living and working with them, working and researching what the most pressing needs in the community were. What we discovered from interviewing Mancorians was that the people in town were concerned about the lack of affordable/accessible health care, unemployment, alcohol and drug addiction and domestic violence.