World Leadership School

Peru is the most ecologically diverse country on the planet, home to 87 of the world’s total 104 ecosystems. The Atacama Desert, the driest in the world, sprawls across much of Peru’s Pacific Coast. The Andes, snow-capped and covered with glaciers, rise above 22,000 feet to form the world’s second-highest mountain range. On the eastern slope of the Andes, mountains give way to the cloud forests and rainforests of the Amazon basin. Peru’s cultures are as diverse as its geography. Peru’s first organized city-states worshipped at stepped adobe platforms on the coast 5,000 years ago, even before the Egyptians were building their pyramids at Giza.

Peru built many rural schools in the 1990s, but the quality of education remains low. Schools are overcrowded and underfunded and teachers receive little training or support. Schools are regularly shut down due to national teacher strikes calling for higher wages. According to a recent survey by the World Economic Forum, Peru’s elementary schools are among the worst in the world. The lack of access to quality education has many associated consequences, among them higher levels of poverty, illiteracy, and underemployment. In Peru, 50 percent of the population lives beneath the poverty line.

The safety of our programs rests on the experience and skills of our Staff, Country Coordinators and Instructors, who convene at our annual training in Colorado’s Arkansas Valley.

• The Staff of World Leadership School have decades of experience working in different educational environments. Their focus is logistics, risk management, program design, professional development, and consulting.
• Our Country Coordinators live and work year round in our overseas countries. They screen our homestay families, evaluate our transport and other service providers, and provide ground support for our groups.
• Our Instructors are veteran educators with extensive international experience. They have wilderness first responder training and often have past affiliations with Peace Corps, Outward Bound, NOLS, and/or independent schools.

We strive to responsibly manage risks. Our itineraries minimize highway travel and maximize immersion in rural communities that we know well. We update our risk management protocols, integrate feedback into program design, and invest in safety and communication equipment. Despite these efforts, World Leadership School cannot guarantee safety nor can it eliminate the inherent and other risks of international student travel. For information regarding program activities and associated risks, risk management, and student and parent responsibilities, please contact our office.

“This trip opened my eyes to many global issues and it showed me that there are many problems but even more solutions.”

— Student from Wardlaw-Hartridge School

“Moments that will forever guide my life.”

— Student from St. Mary’s Academy

“This trip gave me many new perspectives on gratitude, wonder, and what it means to be a leader.”

— Student from Hawaii Preparatory School

“I’ve been reflecting on this experience every day and thinking about how much it helped me to grow as a student, a leader, and an individual.”

— Student from Ensworth School