The Boston Chapter is one of more than 25 Chapters throughout the United States of AMIGOS de las Américas, which has its International Office (IO) in Houston, Texas. Each chapter is led by a volunteer board of directors who coordinate Volunteer recruitment, fundraising, and training. As separate, incorporated, nonprofit organizations, chapters hold licensing agreements with the International Office.
AMIGOS de las Américas was founded in 1965, and the Boston Chapter was founded in 1978. Since then, our Boston Chapter has trained hundreds of high school and college students to perform community development work over a summer in communities throughout Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. The theories and practice of community development have changed dramatically since 1978, and AMIGOS and the Boston Chapter have changed with the times to be as effective as possible.
In the Summer Program in Latin America, which the Boston Chapter supports, volunteers live with a host family, working with a team of 2-3, immersing themselves in the language and culture of their host community. With an elaborate system for safety and guidance supporting volunteers, they will have the opportunity to collaborate with the host community to develop a customized "Community-Based Initiative" project (or CBI) that will address a unique need in their community: from painting a school to building a library to laying new pipes for a clean water system. In addition to the CBI, volunteers work with their community towards goals based on regionally determined themes such as Gardening in Costa Rica, Environmental Health in Costa Rica, or Media and Art in Nicaragua.
To see current or future summer programs, please click HERE. (Future programs are subject to change.)
