By Marta Belenguer
After a month and a half in Ollantaytambo with MySmallHelp Peru, I still don’t know how I did not make the decision to come live this amazing experience before.
My friend Nuria, volunteered here 1 year ago and when she told me about her experience I knew that at some point in my life I would have to do something similar. A year after telling me, I made the decision to travel, and I will not deny that the days before I had my flight from Madrid, all of the questions in the world assailed me: Will I be able to travel alone? Will it be too long? What if I do not adapt? What if my life in Spain changes when I return? It is a good thing that I did not let myself get guided by doubts because… Do what others are not willing to do and you will get what others will never have.
How much I would have missed! A culture that I would have never thought was so rich having so little, with its people who make you feel at home sharing what they do not have simply for kindness and hospitality, their rich food that has me so hooked, the Quechua that I had understood so little of but without understanding we still managed to communicate, its corners which I’ll keep for myself as eternal places, it is beauty in the smallest because what you do not expect always worths double.
Because being a MySmallHelper has made me so happy, I will always carry the family that I had with me, the sunrises with views that seemed like perfect holograms, the environment that surrounds you with every step, the market where we had been fed as if we were at home, the classic jenga duels, the afternoons shared with a hot Muña tea in our hands, hanging the freshly washed clothes while Inti (our duck-pet) chases you around the garden, listening to the same music, no matter if you are from Italy, Canada, Belgium or France.
Take the smallest opportunity to celebrate with a freshly made brownie, or start the day forgetting about the clock, get used to Peruvian punctuality… because feeling free hooks you, because MySmallHelp was and will always be my best coincidence!