Kristy Gonyer
NSHSS/Projects Abroad Program Scholarship Recipient 2006
Hill City, South Dakota

Kristy and Peruvian pal

Navigating the rainforest canopy

There are few places as amazing as the rainforests of Peru. The people are friendly, the sights are amazing, and there is nothing that can beat being wakened by howler monkeys one morning and parakeets the next. The four weeks I spent volunteering with the conservation program at the Taricaya Research Center with Projects Abroad were some the most amazing of my life. When I talk to the friends I met while I was in Peru, we reminisce about the early morning observations in the canopy where we spotted toucans, macaws, and parrots every day, played with the baby spider monkeys in the rescue program, or perhaps the nights spent patrolling the turtle beach collecting turtle eggs to protect them from poachers.

Then there are the memories of the walks through the forest, the two-hour boat ride down the Rio Madre de Dios to the little frontier town of Puerto Maldonado, catching caimans in the middle of the night, and watching some of the world's last giant otters at Lago Sandoval. Of course the work was often hard, and sometimes constantly speaking Spanish was exhausting, but the people I met, the things I learned, and the experiences I had at the Taricaya Research Center were definitely worth it. It was an experience that I will never forget.

Projects Abroad
Projects Abroad offers volunteer opportunities in countries you may never expect to visit, where you can make a real difference right before your eyes. Projects Abroad offers NSHSS members and their families a 10% discount on all programs, even beyond graduation from high school and a scholarship competition for the cost of up to a three-month program. Members may print out the Projects Abroad discount coupon in the member area of the website.
Scholarship application.
NSHSS member comments on their travels.