Talk is only as good as the goals it attempts to achieve. This took on new meaning for me in a week defined by glimpsed new horizons and a better understanding of what the talented group of individuals I was working with were capable of.

First were more meetings about what was going well and what could use work. The content from the first heritage site visit the previous week was seeming like a success, but it would need to be translated into a shareable form. We would need to look at our project from the outside, from the perspective of someone scrolling through Instagram and barely pausing on anything. How could we capture them? How could we make Quechua seem as important to them as it was feeling to us? Because it was feeling important to us, especially after a Quechua class generously provided by Saphi to help us understand the lanugage better. I can confidently say that Quechua is unlike any other language I’ve studied in its difficulty, but it is also a beautiful language and has a truly melodic sound. And, most importantly, it is part of Peru's history and an invaluable part of its heritage.

Lots of time spent writing a script, going through photos and videos, and testing out our ideas on other scholars began to embolden us. As we felt more comfortable with putting together our first foray into the world of social media, we began to change our goals for the project. Why make only a few videos when we had time, funds, and an eager team of volunteers at our disposal? Soon, seven or eight distinct pieces of long-form social media content were seeming realistic. Our expectations were not what they were in the first week of the project.

This was made even more true as we visited more sites. We visited the Ministry of Culture’s Ruraq Maki, a large-scale market featuring artisans from across Peru, where we were able to see the importance of traditional crafts to Peru’s heritage. A visit to the National Museum of Peruvian Culture unexpectedly led to an additional trip, this time to the Peruvian House of Literature. We heard stories in Quechua, heard it sung by a choir, saw maps of its geographical spread. I also had the opportunity to see the Peruvians I was getting to know light up at the sight of their culture on display behind glass and hung on walls. “Oh my grandmother had one of these…” and “ah, that’s right, this particular part of Peru has a tradition of…” were the real takeaways from my museum visits this week, and the challenge became how to translate that real excitement, that living culture, into a short video for mass consumption. A new frontier for collective creativity.

But aside from working behind screens, I was able to better understand the projects of my fellow Laidlaw scholars by visiting their organisations and learning about their challenges. First was Casa Ronald McDonald, a place for children and their families who have needed to visit Lima from rural areas for advanced medical treatment. The requirements of food, safety, transport, entertainment, and maintaining positivity weighed heavy, but the volunteers we met were glad to do the work – after all, what could be more important than helping children and families facing tough situations? We played games with the children and helped to serve lunch for all the residents of Casa Ronald. While our contributions that day may have been miniscule, it felt important to learn about the work that goes on there and I definitely came to better appreciate my fellow scholars for the important work they are doing.

Wrapping up the week was a visit to Communidad Cantagallo, an indigenous community in the heart of Lima. The scholars and volunteers working with Communidad have been striving to increase food nutrition and education for the children living there, and it was wonderful to meet everyone involved in the project. The children were so filled with energy and curiosity, and I felt the importance of providing them with as many possibilities as possible. While there are many challenges facing the community and the groups supporting them, it was also an inspiring close the the week that saw my optimism and excitement about my project grow.