Erica, Amilcar, Carlos and Elisa stop to pose for a picture along a river near Villa Hermosa.

The name Villa Hermosa, which means "beautiful village" in Spanish, does not do justice to the tiny community the Youth Corps team will visit today. Nestled in the side of a mountain range located two hours north of Celendin, the village boasts some of the most breathtaking views imaginable.

This remote village is the home of 35 families who receive assistance from CARE. Here, CARE has trained several villagers to serve as Health and Agriculture Promoters. The humanitarian organization also educates the families' children about various aspects of health through the "NIŅOS" child nutrition project.

After a heart-felt welcome, including many songs from the village band and a dance performed by the children, the Youth Corps members join the men in the village for a hike up the mountainside. Here, they assist the men with their very successful nursery, which CARE helped start.

Erica, Elisa, Carlos and Amilcar begin filling small plastic bags with dirt and then plant lemon seeds in them. The villagers also are growing avocados, wheat and yucca, which have flourished, for the most part, despite the dry season.

Youth Corps members help men from Villa Hermosa work in their mountain-side nursery.

As the Youth Corps members work alongside the villagers, the band plays festive tunes to help make the work more enjoyable. Here, work days are meant to be festive since this is the only time the villagers are all together. On these days, the women cook as the men work. They all reunite later in the day to eat, chat and enjoy each others' company.

Today the villagers treat the Youth Corps members to a delicious meal of chicken noodle soup and lamb with yucca. This is a tremendous gesture on their part, since the villagers rarely can afford to eat meat.

Villa Hermosa children dance for Youth Corps members.

The Corps members are then invited into the school where 60 students attend classes through the sixth grade, with only one teacher for all of them. The floor of this tiny school is made of mud, which presents a big problem during the hot, rainy season from October through April. In addition, the thatched roof and few windows prohibit much light from entering the school. Like the rest of the village, this school has no electricity, so students must read and write in near-obscurity.

None of this matters today, however, because the CARE Youth Corps members are here, and the students anxiously demonstrate their most prized academic accomplishments. Rosa, a sixth-grade student, shows the Corps members how she makes dolls from corn husks. Here, the children cannot afford any other materials, she explains, and these dolls are the only toys they have to play with.

"This brings back so many memories for me," Elisa says. "When I was little, I used to always ask my parents to give me the husks when we ate corn, and I would make dolls and ornaments with them. It is so neat to see that they do the same."

Weighing a toddler in Villa Hermosa.

The day in Villa Hermosa ends with the weighing of the babies in the village. Youth Corps members help the local CARE Health Promoter lift the babies up and place them on the scale. They then record the babies' weight to see if they are malnourished. Because most women in Villa Hermosa breastfeed, their babies tend to be relatively healthy. However, when children reach toddler-age, they rarely get enough protein from a diet that consists primarily of yucca, potatoes and wheat.

As a final farewell, the villagers invite the Corps members to dance with them, which they all do enthusiastically. In addition, the Youth Corps team takes the opportunity to absorb just a bit more of their incredible surroundings.

"Everything here is so gorgeous," Carlos says. "I have always dreamed of traveling like this, but in my wildest dreams I never thought I would ever be here in Peru -- one of the most beautiful places in the world."

Continue to Day 3