The OP did say that they would be teaching religion.

 

I heartily agree, but the fact is that evangelical missionaries have already made big headway in Peru, especially among the poor and lower middle class. It's a shame really, since the last thing Peruvians need is more religion. What the poor need is good education and training, and a less corrupt public sector that would allow them the opportunity to build a better life. How much better it would be if the missionaries would help fill these gaps without foisting their own religious beliefs on other people.

I would hope that the OP would at least counsel her daughter on these issues before allowing her to participate in the trip.

 

...if I had a 19 year old daughter and she came to me asking to go to slums to teach religion, I would be very concerned.
I would happily sit down with her and try to convince her of the merits of going to a 18-30 resort to get stupidly drunk and have (protected) sex with as many men as possible. Nuff said.

(This post is not made "tongue-in-cheek".)

 

I would agree that what is important is the group that is sponsoring the trip.

I believe that it is important for young people to experience what the world is like. And most of the world is poor. I took my son on a "mission experience" to Costa Rica when he was 12. At 14, he traveled to the Dominican Republic to work with Hatian refugees there. Seeing poverty can be a life changing experience for a young person (and for an older person, too). I have traveled to Nicaragua during the Contra era, out into the Atlantic coast region, to El Salvador, leading a Habitat work project in a small village. These have been transforming experiences for me.

She will experience culture shock, not there, but when she returns to the States and no one understands the experience she has had.

A daughter of one of my friends died in Argentina working on a mission project because the heater they were using vented carbon monoxide. And other children have died in the US in car accidents. Everything we do carries risks. We tend to under rate the risk of the things that are familiar to us (like driving a car) and over estimate the risk of the unfamiliar. Learn as much as you can about the organization. Trust your judgment. And if it is a part of your belief system, pray.

 

I have not worked in Peru in a couple of years, but spent six years working in country - mostly in the bush doing mineral exploration work. I lived in the States and commuted regularly. However, during that time I spent considerable time in Lima transiting to and from other parts of the country.

As others have said, Lima is a vast mixture of areas, some quite safe and very upscale, others you want no part of. Also, as others have said, there is poverty and the there is abject third world poverty of the kind that can be found in Peru including parts of Lima. I must admit, that I avoided the worst parts of Lima as there is really no reason for a gringo to wander around there.

You were given good advice about learning all you can about the poeple who will be leading the trip. You should also inquire as to what parts of Lima they expect to visit and work. When they speak of a "slum" they may be speaking more of the lower income parts of Lima, not the truely dangerous shanty towns that popped up during the height of the Sendero. An American idea of a "slum" and a Lima shanty town are quite different.

If your daughter goes, she will be in for an eye opening experience unlike anything she could gain here in the US. I took my oldest son with me on one of my trips a few years ago just so he could gain an understanding of just what true poverty can look like. He still talks about it today. My advice would be to check things out well, and if you feel relatively comfortable with things to let her go. All in all, Lima is a fairly safe place these days and has improved considerably from the years when I was picked up at the airport by armed security personnel. I would have no qualms about letting someone in my family go on such as trip as long as they were to stay out of the very worst parts of town which I suspect they will - parks, schools and open air markets can (obviously) be found throughout Lima. Maybe you could go with her and gain the experience as well.