Frackville woman among study abroad group stranded in Peru by coronavirus restrictions
MADISON STOYER / SPECIAL TO SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Madison Stoyer, Frackville, is among a group of students stuck in Peru on a study abroad trip, after the South American country closed its borders.
CUSCO, Peru – A Frackville woman’s “amazing experience” is now in limbo, as her and 12 others are now stuck in this South American country who may not have a way to return home any time soon.
Madison Stoyer, a 2017 Marian Catholic graduate attending Elizabethtown College, wrote about her situation in a Facebook post Wednesday afternoon.
Since January 16, she said, she was among a group from the Lancaster County college studying abroad. On March 16, she said, the Peruvian government closed its borders and restricted international travel in and out of the country.
“Since then, other countries such as Mexico and Israel have made immense efforts in sending planes to retrieve their citizens from Peru,” Stoyer said.
“As of now, there has been no effort made by the U.S government to extract any of us or get us home safe.”
She said three from her group made it home safely within the 24-hour notice given before the border closure, but her and 12 others are stuck in Cusco, a city in the Andes Mountains, until April 1st.
“However, there is still the chance of the Peruvian government extending this quarantine, and rumor of the U.S closing its borders at the end of this month,” Stoyer said.
“There is a group of over 1,000 people stranded all over Peru currently from students, vacationers to doctors and nurses,” Stoyer said. “The lack of action the U.S government has made is frightening considering there are so many people stuck here, some without access to food or water, for 15 days.”
“During a time like this we should be able to come home and be with our friends and family, not stuck in a foreign country, no matter how much I’ve come to love my host family and Peru,” Stoyer added.
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