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As President and Founder of the JBQ Charitable Foundation (JBQ), I am thrilled to steer the Foundation in pursuit of educational collaboration between Peru and other nations.   

 

During our first year of establishment (2013-14), JBQ successfully collaborated with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) in sponsoring a faculty-led Study Abroad Program to Peru for pre-service education students. JBQ also facilitated two individual volunteer teaching experiences at schools in Lima during the Fall of 2014.  In the summer of 2016 our first Honoree, Talmeshia Parker, and I were invited to informally to observe schools in two regions of Peru in order to facilitate future educational exchanges. 

 

We have further supported teacher workshops on integrating English with science in the Chincha region of Peru with the University of North Carolina and select schools in San José and El Carmen near Hacienda San José. In partnership with Llama Pack, an environmental nonprofit in Urubamba, Peru we offered a workshop to area teachers on using their schoolyards for science learning, and I designed custom curriculum, with input from students, teachers and Llama Pack to use with visiting teens from the USA who work with area schoolchildren near Urubamba, for exploring their ecosystems. These precursor activities inspired me to offer trips to professors who may wish to bring their university students to Peru and engage in similar activities. I foresee JBQ supporting educators with liaisons and collaborative educational endeavors in the future in Peru. 

 

I am currently retired, and as a mother, grandmother, educator and educational researcher, I have always advocated the importance of an education that extends beyond the traditional classroom setting.  I like to think that through JBQ's sponsorship of professional development programs and experience opportunities in Peru, we can help to provide unique opportunities to professor-led study trips, provide for interaction with experts in Peru – and gain a broader view of global environmental conditions, politics, and educational development, as well as helping visitors compare education and research in Peru with that of the USA.  

  

JBQ has been designated a 501 (c) (3) Foundation which means going forward we will be developing family fund-raising activities so that we may have greater outreach, collaborate with more educational exchanges as well as increase our collaboration with institutions on issues of mutual interest, such as CONAPAC, Llama Pack, and Hacienda San José, to name a few. The possibilities are endless in Peru! 

 

Aerin W. Benavides, Ph.D.

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November 2024