At Midterm, Volunteers designed our project t-shirts, writing on the back "There's Something in the Mate." (Mate is traditional tea). There's something special about Paraguay, and it goes beyond anything you can drink. Could it be our caring host families who have opened their homes and hearts to foreign teenagers? Or our Paraguayan youth counterparts and Junior Achievement Volunteers, who worked side by side our AMIGOS Volunteers, proving volunteerism is valued throughout the America? Or our incredibly supportive four  Partner Agencies, (Plan, SENASA, Fundacion Paraguaya, and A Todo Pulmon) who have shared their expertise and opened their checkbooks to support our work? Whatever it is, it's more than what's in the mate. It's a spirit of volunteerism and commitment to community development and youth leadership.

What an amazing winter we've shared in Paraguay. Volunteers arrived seven weeks ago nervous, but excited about the experience. In just under week, they'll leave with a great sense of accomplishment, but also sad to leave their communities. Their accomplishments are many: 200 latrines built, 7 full weeks of educational day camps, community based initiatives, fundraisers, participation in a project-wide youth encuentro and route encuentros, and 3,000 trees planted!

In their final days in community, Volunteers will be holding their last day camps, finishing their work on community-based initiatives, and holding despedidas (goodbye parties.) On August 16th, we'll all gather for a project-wide depsedida to close out our work. After the despedida, Volunteers will travel to Asunción, where they will have time to shop for souvenirs and debrief their experience. On the 17th, Volunteers will make the long journey back to the United States, hopefully with the intent to return one day to the heart (and not just geographically) of South America.