Benjamin Katz and camp-mate admire the mountains of Peru.
In the summer of 2025, Benjamin Katz traveled to Peru for a community service opportunity. After taking turns carrying heavy backpacks while hiking up the long trail to the top of Machu Picchu and fighting the sweltering South American heat, Katz finally reached the summit to enjoy the magnificent views and take in the fascinating structures of the once-great city.
Katz visited Machu Picchu during his trip to Peru for a fun excursion and to see one of the famous wonders of the world.
“It took a pretty long hike,” Katz said. “I think an hour and 30 minutes up all these stairs to finally get to the area where you do the sightseeing. Once we got to the top, it was really amazing. There were really pointy peaks everywhere. No matter where you looked, it was really stunning; the city itself was really cool.”
Katz joined the Discovery Bounds National Leadership Council (NLC) to participate in a group of students traveling to Peru—specifically to the town of Ollantaytambo—to complete community service. The Discovery Bounds National Leadership Council is a program for eighth through 12th grade students that helps teens develop leadership skills, make friends, explore the world and serve their communities. Katz left in late June 2025 to fly to Peru for a total of 11 days.
“We volunteered at this girls’ dormitory that doesn’t have as much funding as they wish,” Katz said. “So we terraformed their land and moved stuff around, like shoveling dirt and that kind of stuff. We also sifted it so we could get enough good dirt for gardening.”
The primary goal of the trip was to aid in construction work on a girls’ dormitory being built to house and educate girls who might not have access to secondary education. The construction was led by the Sacred Valley Project, a nonprofit with the mission of providing education and helping young women in remote Andean communities complete secondary school.
After a long day of work, Katz and his group spent time talking with the people they were helping over a meal.
“After we did a lot of the terraforming, moving the dirt and rocks to make better gardening areas,” Katz said, “we also had lunch and dinner with the girls who lived there. It was really interesting trying to communicate with them, using what Spanish we knew to talk about things.”
Eventually, Katz’s trip came to an end, but he returned home with unforgettable memories of helping people in need, exploring fascinating places and having fun while doing it. Overall, Katz described his trip to Peru as “a really enlightening experience.”