Amigos de las Americas

Location: Throughout Central & South America
Organization: Amigos de las Americas
Categories: all
Duration: 6-8 weeks
Contact: Tel: 1-800-231-7796
Cost: $3700, includes airfare, food, lodging, transportation, supplies, insurance. Financial Aid on a need-basis, fundraising activities available

Description: Live with a host-family in a community, usually rural, in one of eight Latin American countries. Volunteers integrate into the community, partnered with 1-2 other volunteers. Meals are usually provided on a meal-rotation schedule, in which volunteers eat with a different family every day. Service projects include teaching classes at the local school on health, hygiene, the environment, and cultural exchange, and at least one "community-based-intiative." Projects have ranged from vegetable gardens, to women's exercise classes, to reforestation projects, mural projects, building speedbumps, etc. Project volunteers come together for training, de-briefing, and a "midterm" retreat.

Field Notes: I have served as a volunteer for 6 weeks in Honduras, and for 2 months as a supervisor in Mexico. My first experience was life-changing in every sense of the word, and my experience in Mexico again changed me dramatically. I know of no other organization that gives so much responsibility to such young people as Amigos. Participants come out on a maturity and competence level far exceeding where they began. I think everyone should do it.

--Anne Barton-Veenkant