I was walking my wonderful 4-year-old host sister to school, holding her hand as we walked along a street on a steep hill. There was a little drop-off by the side of the road. I carefully helped guide her as she walked on the curb between the street and where the road dropped off. She looked down, and I asked her if she was scared. She replied, “Todo el mundo me da miedo” — the whole world scares me.
Maybe it was just a simple reaction by a child in a fearful situation. But I often wonder whether it told a broader statement on the risk and uncertainty of growing up in a developing country. Or the risk and uncertainty of being a child anywhere in the world. Or simply of being human.
Jake Smucker went to Peru for SST in early 2014. He studied in Lima while living with the Nue Pereda family and did service in Huamanga, Ayacucho while living with the Bautista Huarcaya family. He graduated from Goshen College with a major in communication and a graphic design minor in 2015.
