As described by junior Hannah Fishman, this was the typical day for participants in the Amigos de las Américas program this summer. Tamalpais High School had the most students enrolled in the program.

Amigos de las Américas sends students 16 years or older to different countries in Central and South America each summer to "build partnerships to empower young leaders, advance community development and strengthen multi-cultural understanding in the Americas," according to their website. The program began in 1965, when hundreds of teenagers volunteered to work in Honduras, which was suffering from a growing epidemic of polio. From then on, Amigos de las Américas has worked to continue a strong relationship between the United States and Latin America and continues to send around 600 students every summer.

This program has been a life changing experience for some and serves as a means of self-discovery. Fishman, who traveled to Honduras this summer, said, "This experience has really just taught me a lot about myself and how I fit into the world. I developed lifelong friendships that I will never forget. I would not change a thing or do anything differently." Fishman spent a little over six weeks in Honduras, where she worked as a teacher at the local school. She worked for three hours a day, five days a week with a group of children from six to 12 years of age. She taught them about personal hygiene and nutrition. They also did art projects and made dance costumes for a local youth dance group.

While in Latin America, students are fully immersed in the Latin culture and Spanish language, grappling with the language barrier on a constant basis. The program only requires two years of Spanish, but Fishman, who this year is taking AP Spanish, found the language barrier both "confusing and difficult." On the other hand, she said, "You learn other ways of communicating, like using your hands."

The program is focused on action rather than communication. Volunteers are given only a few weeks to teach proper nutrition to a six year old or to build a family a suitably equipped house. The program reflects the idea of not to focus on the differences of others but rather focus on what can be achieved in this world. The Amigos de las Américas program reflects the ability of an open-minded and hard-working student to affect the world positively. Fishman said, "There isn’t really much you can do to prepare for something like this. The best thing you can do is practice your Spanish."