Guanajuato Midway Update

July 24, 2008

The volunteers are having a great summer so far in Guanajuato! All of them are keeping busy giving health and environmental classes to the children of their communities, as well as planning and executing some great community based projects. In the municipality of Yuriria, volunteers are building a bus stop, organizing a trash pick-up system, and painting a library.  Salamanca volunteers have been busy painting trash bins, building a bridge, and improving playgrounds.  In the Valle municipality, volunteers are helping retrofit an old hacienda, creating a public a garden, and building lorena stoves.  With less than two weeks left in community, the volunteers are working hard to complete their projects and make the most of the time that is left!

As part of the community based initiative (CBI) process, our volunteers have been working closely with local youth.  Together, they have been teaching classes and organizing events to raise money for the community projects.  Our staff was able to see the collaboration between U.S. and Mexican youth in action during the ‘Youth Encuentros’ or workshops held during week 3.  At the Salamanca encuentro, the volunteers and their counterparts took part in Olympic-style games (complete with uniforms!) in order to build team pride.  In Valle, the youth held a project fair in which they could all share information on their community projects.  In Yuriria, the youth were able to show off their work to officials from the Municipal President's office.  At all three events, it was clear how successfully the youth have come together to learn from each other, get work done, and create new friendships.

Last weekend the project received a visit from our president, Emily Untermeyer, and a board advisory committee comprised of AMIGOS veterans from the 1970s.  Guanajuato supervisors took the group on town visits to show them the 'new face' of Amigos de las Americas. In the evening, our staff threw a party for these 'Super AMIGOS' (as we came to call them) and our agency counterparts.  The Super AMIGOS really enjoyed being out in the ranchos and seeing the volunteers in action.  We had a great time comparing notes: Amigos 1974 versus Amigos 2008!  All told, it was a treat for everyone involved and they learned a lot from seeing the volunteers in their communities!