Young Americans Get a Taste of Foreign Service, Different Culture

Story and photos by San Diego chapter of the Amigos de las Américas board members and veterans.

Published in "The Mexico File: The Newsletter for Mexicophiles" in April/May 2007

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Remember when you were green and idealistic, out to save the world? It’s a great place to be, a wonderful feeling to be young and adventurous – full of hope and big ideas. And it’s great that there are organizations out there that
can help funnel this precious, youthful energy into good works and excellent
opportunities for personal growth. In an age when many American youths
are being tempted by drugs or wrapped up in the superficial shenanigans of
Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, a small number of the brave and curious venture out of their safe, if shallow, nests to take a bite out of the real world.

Amigos de las Américas is an organization that helps young people
do just that. Based in Houston and with about two dozen chapters throughout
the United States, Amigos sends hundreds of young Americans to
Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean nations every year.
Guided through months of training and placed in rural communities, they
realize their dreams of service – and of parent-sanctioned foreign travel.
It’s like the Peace Corps for teens.

For six to eight weeks each summer, students teach environmental protection and proper nutrition, help construct day-care centers and septic tanks. Most of all, they engage in peace-building activism. While volunteering to promote community health and cultural understanding, the kids learn leadership, cooperation, and compassion. When they return home at the end of the summer, many of these awesome young  adults will lead others in working for positive change in our often conflicted and combative world.

Not only do the kids dedicate their summer to helping others, they must
also raise the funds for plane fare and all other expenses. They sell cookie dough, Christmas greens and shade-grown, fair equity coffee; hold
bake sales and car washes; and most lucratively, hit up relatives and their
parents’ best friends for contributions.

San Diego’s Amigos

In 2002, the San Diego Chapter of Amigos, which had been idle since the
70s, was revived. Emily Rowland (who has volunteered in Ecuador, Mexico,
Honduras, and Panama over a 10-year period), Mike Nelson (Ecuador and
Dominican Republic) and Leigh Rysko (Costa Rica) formed San Diego’s
Chapter in Development (CID). The International Offi ce in Houston assists
CIDs with generating and training a board, recruiting volunteers, and all of
the other details that more established chapters delegate and manage
independently.

Since then, the San Diego chapter has trained and sent 26 volunteers from 13 local schools to Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic, among other Latin American countries.

There’s a strong sense of community in the Amigos network. The students
commit to weekly meetings where they practice their Spanish and roleplay
to prepare for a variety of different situations. Students participate in
several overnight adventures, including a weekend of survival training in
Joshua Tree National Monument. By the time these young people ship out
for Latin America, they’ve bonded like nobody’s business. And in the process
they’ve lost a lot of shyness and become more comfortable expressing
themselves in Spanish and in taking leadership roles.

Because the Amigos experience tends to make a powerful impression on
the volunteers, many continue to be active after their initial commitment,
returning for new projects during subsequent years, joining the board
of directors, or speaking at high school Spanish classes to help drum
up interest among the current crop of students.

The San Diego chapter hosts a despedida (good-bye party) before the
students set out in the summer and a welcome-home party where they are
encouraged to share their experiences. For six to eight weeks in between, the volunteers are largely on their own in their host countries. There they grow as young adults, most learning as much
as they teach. After imparting lessons in hygiene and English, building community centers and latrines, they come back having learned myriad
lessons about family, community, and international relations. They take in as
much as they give, which is a lot. Former volunteers have the most
insightful information about the Amigos experience.

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