Back in her senior year of high school, Dahlia Rissman was accepted by Binghamton University, but decided to begin her college years differently than the typical 18-year-old. She chose to defer her acceptance by a year and participate in a hands-on international experience in Cuzco, Peru.
Rissman, a senior human development major, lived with a host family in Cuzco, Peru, during what would have been her freshman year of college. She volunteered teaching 15 English classes a week to children in grades one through seven.
“I would describe my experience with the children at the elementary school as unforgettable,” she said. “They left a permanent impression on me.”
Rissman said 60 percent of the children in Cuzco attend private schools, and that the remaining 40 percent that go to public schools tend to be poorer.
“A lot of children attending the school who did not live in the town were living with families in Cuzco and working there to earn their keep,” she said. “Other children were traveling long distances to get there.”
As Rissman taught English each day at the school, she began to take notice of her surroundings, and decided she wanted to do more than just teach.
“The school building was dilapidated and falling apart,” she said.
Rissman said that the infrastructure of the school was damaged and the lights were broken, leaving classrooms dark in the later hours of the day.
Rissman decided to take on the project of fixing up the school to create a better, safer and healthier learning environment for the children. She sent e-mails to friends and family members asking them to make donations to her project, and she received $500 at the start of her endeavor.
“It was enough to paint the entire building, including a colorful mural,” she said. “Broken lights and windows were repaired, and I was able to put money toward buying sports equipment and English teaching supplies.”
Rissman worked collaboratively with the school administration and the parents of the children, along with two local art students on the mural, while incorporating the elementary school students’ own creative ideas.
“My start at fixing up the school was really successful and empowering because I didn’t realize the capacity I had to get this all done,” she said.
Rissman decided to stay in Peru for a year, although she had only been scheduled to stay for three months.
Rissman and her mother came to a compromise: she could return to Peru only after she first came back to her hometown of Woodstock, N.Y., and earned enough money to return. She went home and worked as a ski instructor while fundraising to continue her efforts in Peru by selling Peruvian arts and crafts in her hometown.
Rissman returned to Peru with $1,500 — enough to pay for her own airfare and embark on a new project at the school, deemed Project Cuzco.
“My new idea was to build a library, because they had so few resources,” she said. “I picked out novels, encyclopedias, dictionaries and all things I thought would interest the children. I used the remaining money to buy a computer and computer software.”
She said the town even named the library after her: “Biblioteca Dahlia Rissman,” they called it.
Now that Rissman is graduating, she is going back to Cuzco to visit both her host family and the school. She has begun fundraising again for Project Cuzco with hopes of expanding the library, purchasing more educational computer software and building new classrooms. She also recently found out that the school roof tops are inadequate and only temporary, causing leaking during rain.
Rissman has been soliciting her family and friends for Project Cuzco, but after presenting her experience to her Spanish class, she became inspired by the positive response and began encouraging BU students to contribute to her efforts.
“If a BU students donates a dollar which can buy a book, that is really significant,” she said. “The more money I can raise collectively, the more I am able to do in Peru.”
Rissman believes that her experience in Peru has taught her a tremendous amount about the educational system, while enabling her to form a better outlook on life and make positive social changes in the world.
“If you believe something is possible and put the effort in, it can happen,” she said. “I saw that unfold before my eyes.”
Rissman’s experience working with children in Peru has had a major influence on her future life plans. She will be participating in the Teach For America program in the fall of 2007.
Those interested in donating to the Dahlia Rissman Project should contact her before May 20 at dahliarissman@gmail.com.