McKenna Wilson has never left the borders of the United States. That will change in just a few short weeks when she heads toward a volunteer experience in South America.

She will be traveling nearly 5,000 miles to Cusco, Peru to work in a medical clinic and teach English.

Wilson, a 2014 Flathead High School graduate, will be spending four months in the old capital of the Inca Empire as part of the International Volunteer HQ program.

The program allows volunteer-minded individuals and students taking “gap years” to lend a hand in dozens of countries. Wilson wasn’t quite sure what her next step in life was, and thought volunteering would help her figure it out.

“A lot of kids I graduated with knew exactly what they wanted to do, and are going to college in a month,” she said. “That’s not me. I couldn’t really imagine going to college right away.”

So from late August to December, Wilson will work in an international medical clinic and teach English to Peruvian children in Cusco, a city of nearly 500,000 people tucked away 11,000 feet high in the Andes mountains.

“I might have a little bit of a headstart, being from Kalispell,” she said. “But it might still take a while to get used to [the elevation].”

The New Zealand-based program takes young people from mostly First World countries and brings them to developing countries in South and Central America, Asia and Africa.

Her opportunity to work in the medical clinic comes from experiences she had while attending Flathead.

“The biggest thing is probably my [certified nursing assistant] license,” Wilson said. “I took a Running Start class in high school through Flathead Valley Community College. That license allows me to work in the clinic.”

She will bring some medical supplies to bolster whatever the clinic has.

Her teaching will benefit from three years of Spanish in high school, one of the reasons she selected Peru over places such as India, Vietnam, Uganda or Morocco.

But she had other reasons as well for choosing Peru.

“It was really hard to choose where to go,” Wilson said. “But my grandparents had been to Peru and loved it. It seemed like a good choice. The culture shock won’t be quite as bad as some of the other choices.”

Wilson admits she is nervous about leaving the country for the first time, much less to a large city. The program won’t even tell her where she is living until she arrives at the airport.

Lauri Wilson, her mother, is already looking forward to visiting Peru.

“I’m excited and jealous and anxious all at once,” she said. “As long as she’s having a good time, I’ll be fine. I am kind of worried if she gets sick or something, she’ll be all alone so far from home.”

Wilson could live with a family or in a group home with some of the 30 other volunteers arriving the same day in Cusco.

While certainly not free, the International Volunteer HQ program is one of the more affordable ways to volunteer and get experience in a different country, Wilson said.

Several of her friends are doing similar programs, with two going to Madagascar, and another planning on Iceland after her freshman year of college.

With Machu Picchu just a short trip (and long hike) outside the city, she hopes to experience as much of highland Peru as possible, but knows she is there for another reason as well.

“I’m going to a country I’ve never been to by myself for four months,” Wilson said. “I’m going to learn about myself. I need this to figure out what exactly I want to do with my life.”

A local doctor is donating medical supplies for the clinic, but the Wilsons are accepting any sort of donated school supplies for the students. Donations are welcome at Properties Northwest Real Estate on Whitefish Stage Road.

For more information on International Volunteer HQ, visit www.volunteerhq.org.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.