Volunteers have been busy these last couple of weeks in community, finishing up their community projects and educational activities, and getting ready to say goodbye to the friends they made during the summer.  

Saturday, they will pack their bags and leave community to come together in La Esperanza for a final farewell celebration.  Volunteers and their guests will have the opportunity to share their experiences, exchange contact information with host families and youth counterparts, and eat lunch together.  Then, community members will return home and volunteers will head on to three days of pre-departure debriefing at the beautiful Lago de Yajoa.

Project Staff have planned a packed debriefing agenda for Volunteers, including some reflection activities and discussions about return culture shock, how to stay involved with AMIGOS, and ideas of ways to continue serving their own communities at home.  Throughout the three days, volunteers will also be participating in a “Volunteer Olympics,” a series of silly events to test out who has developed the strongest “latrine legs,” who can successful wolf down a block of stinky cheese (cuajada) the fastest, which team can best execute an impromptu synchronized swimming routine, and which can come up with the most creative silly performance for the group.  Volunteers will also have the opportunity to do some souvenir shopping, and will be spending some time at the local waterfalls to eat tacos and hamburgers and to wade in the pools of water around the falls.  Finally, Tuesday morning, everyone will head to the airport and begin the long journey back to their families, their communities, and a new school year.

We are excited to have a fun and busy next couple of days!