July was a special month for AGORA Leadership Development Program, as it completed its first study abroad trip: a ten-day educational journey through Peru that paired historic exploration with hands-on service leadership.

AGORA is a Newtown-based nonprofit that offers leadership education to high school students at no cost. Robert Payne III, co-founder and president of AGORA, said service leadership has always been at the heart of their program.

"And our background is one that is very much accustomed to travel, so we wanted to create the organization with the intent of taking local teens and families abroad to go and travel and experience different cultures, and learn about different people and histories," Payne explained. "That's really hard to do when you are in the local area of Greater Danbury."

The trip carried students through some of Peru's most significant historic sites, including Lima, the country's vibrant capital, the Sacred Valley, a region with sprawling scenic landscapes and scattered Quechua-speaking communities, and Machu Picchu, a world-famous landmark built by the Incas.

Payne said guided tours brought the Inca civilization's history to life, as participants walked the ruins and climbed the hills where that very history unfolded. They got to visit historic ruins and learn about the Inca people and the conquistadors.

However, the ten-day trip was divided into two parts: one dedicated to cultural immersion and education, and the other spent working with TECHO, a youth‑led nonprofit transforming underserved communities across Latin America and the Caribbean.

The group builds temporary shelters in struggling Latin American countries where people are without them, according to Payne.

He said that the most impactful part of the trip came in the outskirts of Lima, where AGORA participants worked alongside a team of local volunteers from TECHO to build a home for a family of seven.

The completed home gives the family raised flooring to sleep on rather than dirt, access to clean water, and protection from weather, something Payne called a simple but meaningful improvement to their daily lives.

While Payne and the others knew what TECHO did in advance, and what the labor entailed, they had never done it before. He said they had to pick up hammers, nails, and hand saws; no power tools.

"We used a leveler that was a tube filled with water instead of what you'd traditionally use, the foot and a half plastic ruler with three different leveling bubbles," Payne said. "It was all very simple, almost crude tools, and a fantastic learning opportunity for everyone. The importance of striking a nail now really matters when there's no nail gun to push it straight."

The owner of the home they built is a 70-year-old grandmother and home caretaker, who cleans home and prepares meals for families. In her family, one of her sons works in landscaping, another does basic construction, and her grandson handles delivery jobs.

However, Payne said, all of them are day laborers. There is no enduring wage that they can count on, and, in spite of all of them working, they do not make enough money to move out of their underserved community.

Payne noted that when AGORA and TECHO volunteers showed up to meet the most basic need of providing shelter for them, the gratitude was overwhelming.

The grandmother made them meals each day from her own kitchen, with Payne saying it all came out of her own pocket. Together, they broke bread, enjoyed a prayer, and talked with one another.

While conversing was more difficult for Payne than anyone else — he knew the least amount of Spanish in the group — he said they were still able to connect with one another.

He added, "Those are the basic things that every person can really relate to on a human level, someone being grateful and someone preparing a meal in that gratitude, and then just enjoying each other's company. We all have the same basic motivations of wanting to be comfortable and healthy and enjoy communion with each other. Knowing it was going to happen is one thing, but saying that can't really convey what it means to experience that."

It is for this reason Payne called servant leadership "the heart of AGORA," as it is not something that can be instructed through lecture. Rather, he believes people have to get out and serve to understand what it means to be a servant leader.

During their regular academic year, Payne said AGORA works with The New American Dream Foundation, located in Danbury, to deliver meals to people. AGORA also works with The Silo Cooking School, located in New Milford, to do basic labor-intensive tasks around their farm.

Payne noted these opportunities have opened one door after another for AGORA, which is what led them to TECHO in the first place.

TECHO was referred to them by author Mariela Dabbah, when AGORA was invited by her organization, the Red Shoe Movement, to support a professional development event in New York City last November.

From there, Payne contacted TECHO, noted what dates worked for his organization, and asked where they had projects lined up; the dates for Peru happened to be the perfect fit. AGORA committed to the trip in January, and Payne said they received a donation from International Scripture Ministries in February that made the trip possible.

After they concluded their academic year in June, they prepared to head out for the July trip. The plan was to leave America for Lima on July 11, and then return on July 20. However, Payne called traveling to and from Peru cumbersome; they got delayed departing from Newark, sat on the tarmac for four to five hours because of weather, and then their return flight got canceled on back-to-back days because of weather.

Despite the travel difficulties, Payne said they could not have enjoyed the trip more.

AGORA plans to continue its mission of service, even beyond its first study abroad trip. Payne said that serving their local community comes first and foremost, and that AGORA plans to continue working with its local partners to answer their calls for help. That said, AGORA is already communicating with TECHO for another trip in spring of next year.

They have a project in Rio de Janeiro that works with AGORA's schedule, so Payne said he is just starting his fundraising appeal. Last year, they had a couple families who wanted to participate in the Peru trip but could not because of financial barriers.

One of the things AGORA does for its academic year is that it is at no cost to the families. All they need to do is show up every week where AGORA holds its classes. However, Payne said covering everyone going abroad would be too much for AGORA.

He continued, "If we could meet that need, and if there's a young teen who would otherwise never travel and have their travel expenses covered, that would be a dream come true. But we're not there yet. We hope to have as many people as possible go on our next trip."

For more information about the AGORA Leadership Development Program, visit agoraldp.com or e-mail agoracorpldp@gmail.com.

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.