Both of these remarkable women previously served on Project Staff and are ready to jump into their new roles. The Fellows will focus on Latin American youth initiatives and curriculum development among other efforts before serving as the Project Director for the 2008 Costa Rica and Oaxaca Projects. The AMIGOS Fellows program is an exciting part of the AMIGOS’ strategic growth plan and will help provide a year-long presence in our project areas. Read on as our wonderful fellows share a bit about themselves:

Molly Wolfes, AMIGOS Fellow for Costa Rica

Hola! My name is Molly Wolfes and I am the AMIGOS Fellow for Costa Rica. I am so excited to be here and to continue my work with AMIGOS. I am originally from Marin, California, but have lived in San Francisco for the last seven years. Before this position, I was the Program Director for a Boys & Girls club in Richmond, California.

I have been involved with AMIGOS for many years. I was first a Volunteer with the Marin Chapter in 2001, when I volunteered with AMIGOS in Intibuca, Honduras. I continued my service as a Veteran Volunteer in Neiba, Dominican Republic in 2002. In 2004, I was the Assistant Training Director for my chapter, and finally in 2006 I was a Project Supervisor in Masaya-Granada, Nicaragua.

I am grateful to Amigos for allowing me to live in this beautiful country and work with Casa de la Juventud, our partnering agency. While I am here, I will not only be the Project Director for both the January-term and summer projects, but I will be holding youth encuentros for all our community youth counterparts, and traveling to Panama to recruit Latin American youth volunteers — amongst many other things. Check out my blog on the AMIGOS Online Community for details. The opportunity to be here for a year will enable AMIGOS to grow and create new and exciting programs! I look forward to seeing what both Beca Beeman, the AMIGOS Fellow in Oaxaca, and I can accomplish in our years as AMIGOS’ first Fellows!

Rebeca (Beca) Beeman, AMIGOS Fellow for Oaxaca

My name is Rebeca (Beca) Beeman and I am so happy to be back at AMIGOS as the AMIGOS Fellow for Oaxaca, Mexico.  I first became involved with AMIGOS in 1995 as a high school student with the Chicago North Chapter. Since then, I have worn many hats with AMIGOS — from being a two-time Volunteer, Project Director and even an International Office staff employee.  My most recent role was as part of the AMIGOS Portland Chapter Board.

As many AMIGOS alumni say, AMIGOS has played a very important role in my life and I am thrilled to be working here in Oaxaca, Mexico, full-time for the organization I care so deeply for.  As the Oaxaca Fellow, my work revolves around preparing for our summer program as well as recruiting and training Latin American youth counterparts for the summer project and building curriculum with our partnership agencies. AMIGOS has a wonderful relationship with three exceptional local organizations. I am working closely with all three but especially with Puente a la Salud Comunitaria where I am interning.  For more information about the work I am doing in Oaxaca, please check out my blog on the Online Community.  I will be posting photos, and descriptions of my experience in Oaxaca during the next 11 months.