Pursuing a Career in Peru

Welcome back fellow Red Dragons! We hope everyone had a wonderful summer! 

           Our first student of this semester to be featured on our Red Dragons blog, is an intern who is working in Peru! Interning abroad is a great way for students to gain professional experience while also growing as individuals and getting to travel the world. Emily Iamarino, a SUNY Cortland senior, provided a memorable and heartwarming article of her internship with Projects Abroad in Urubamba, Peru!

Emily Iamarino

SUNY Cortland, Senior

International Studies Major

Originally from Carmel, New York

What company are you interning for? What do they do? What is a typical day like in your internship?

I am currently interning for Projects Aboard in their nutrition program. Projects Abroad is an international volunteering organization that leads outreaches in developing countries in an array of concentrations. My day to day activities vary. A typical week for me consists of giving presentations on proper sanitation and preparation of food, and suitable nutrition for children and the elderly. Many of the elderly and children in Peru suffer from malnourishment and anemia, so it is my job to help prevent these issues from occurring. When I am not working on outreaches, I am working within a Monet; which is where mothers can bring their children for free for breakfast, lunch and play. At the Monet, I help prepare food and give health consultations to the mothers about their children. During my consultations, I ask the mothers an array of questions about their children, take measurements of the children, and create a health plan for them to follow at home.

What made you decide to intern abroad versus at home? What made you decide to intern in Peru instead of another country

I chose to intern abroad because I wanted to help make a difference for people who are less fortunate than us in the United States. We are very lucky to live in a developed country, and everyday people seem to take that for granted. I feel that it is our duty as a developed nation to help people who are not as fortunate as we are. I decided to intern in Peru after working on a project in my International Health and Culture class taught by Professor Wodi. For this project, I had to compare 3 less developed countries to 2 developed countries. After learning about Peru’s health care system and how many children were suffering from malnourishment and nutrient deficiencies, I knew I wanted to try to make a difference there.

What are some hardships you have encountered while working abroad? Did you find it hard to transition into the workplace?

The biggest hardship for me while working here in Peru is the language barrier. Although I have taken Spanish classes at SUNY Cortland, in Peru they speak a dialect of Spanish. I have been taking some Spanish lessons here for me to better understand and communicate with everyone. Also,
many of the elderly, parents and children I have been working with speak Quechua; the old Inca language. It is completely different than Spanish so I have had to learn some phrases in Quechua as well to help communicate better.

Have your co-worker’s cultures affected the way you work? Have you learned new ways to work with other individuals? What have you learned about work culture in Peru?

After working a couple of weeks in Peru, I have realized that working here is a lot more relaxed than it is in the U.S. A typical work day in Peru is usually from 7:30am -12pm and then everything in town closes for 3 hours for lunch. After 3:00pm most stores reopen but people who work in offices usually work from home for until 5:30-6:00. This 3-hour break in the middle of the day always throws me off. I’ll be really into my work load and have to stop and go home; then I feel like it’s harder for me to be productive again later in the day. I’ve also realized that being on time to something is not important here. This has taught me to have a pretty flexible schedule because the chances I’ll either leave work or start a presentation on time are unlikely.

Could you see yourself working or living full time in Peru?

I can definitely see myself working and living in Peru. In the couple of weeks I have been working here I feel that I have already begun to impact the people I have been working with in a positive way. It makes me happy to see the things I have been presenting and working on being put into use. The feeling of truly helping others and them being so appreciative of my work could keep me here a lifetime.

What is something you have learned from working abroad that you wish you had known before?

I wish I knew how laid back and relaxed work was here. Then I wouldn’t have been so nervous leading up to my arrival!

Are there any lessons you have learned while abroad that you are going to incorporate to life back in America?

So far I have learned how truly fortunate we are in the US. Seeing wide spread poverty first hand is different than just learning about it in school. It has truly effected and changed me already. In the U.S. we are so used to the over consumption of foods and goods we don’t even realize how much we have and how much we take for granted. When I return home, I am going to be more cautious about my consumption rate of foods and goods. I will also be so much more grateful for even the little things in my life.