This walk-thru is designed to give you a better idea of what to logistically expect as a Correspondent Volunteer (CV) with AMIGOS. This is intended to give you a general idea of what will occur once you are assigned to an AMIGOS project in Latin America. Please be aware that specific steps may vary from time to time due to unforeseen circumstances or specific project needs.
Once you are assigned to an AMIGOS project, you will receive a Volunteer Handbook and a Program Guide, plus other training materials. These are important materials that you should read thoroughly in order to prepare yourself for your Latin America assignment.
CV Training Workshop
For most Correspondent Volunteers, your adventure will begin with a pre-departure CV Training Workshop. There are two options for CV training – a regional training held during the spring or a gateway training held in Miami or Houston immediately prior to your flight to Latin America. This required workshop is designed to solidify your understanding of AMIGOS, cultural sensitivity, the AMIGOS Standards of Conduct, how to maintain good partner relations, what to expect you when arrive in your community, and how to present information in Spanish. Specific information about your project, your work activities, and the host country’s culture will be provided during a briefing session when you arrive in Latin America. Neither the CV Training Workshop nor the in-country briefing is designed to provide language training; it is important for you to spend time improving your Spanish before you leave for Latin America.
On the day of international departure, you will arrive at the Miami or Houston airport in your blue AMIGOS shirt and be greeted by an AMIGOS Travel Team Coordinator. You will check into your international flight and fly to Latin America in a group with all the Volunteers on your specific project.
Briefing
Once you arrive in your assigned country, you will be picked up at the airport by your Project Staff and escorted to your briefing site. Briefing lasts 3-4 days and is designed to highlight local culture, introduce you to partner agency staff and programs, and review technical information about your project and community. To facilitate pairing of partners and assignment of host communities, Project Staff interviews each Volunteer and conducts a variety of fun activities. Briefing is where you find out who your partners are and to what community you will be assigned.
After briefing, you will arrive in your host community and be introduced to your host family. During the initial weeks in your community, you will meet other community members, hold your first town meetings, become familiar with customs, food, and language, and get started on your projects.
A Project Supervisor will come to your community once a week and spend the night in your town. Each Project Supervisor is responsible for supporting Volunteers in several communities and rotates between them during the week. The purpose of these visits is to check up on your health and safety, see how the project is progressing, and determine if there are any materials that you may need. Project Supervisors also bring mail, fill out weekly updates, help foster strong partner relations, and participate in social activities with your host families and friends.
Each Volunteer is provided an emergency plan and phone numbers for Project Staff, local physicians and clinics, and the U.S. Embassy. Between Project Supervisor visits, if you become ill or anything should happen in your community that makes you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, you will know how to reach out for support. In the event of an illness or emergency, Volunteers may stay temporarily at Project Staff headquarters until other arrangements are made or the Volunteer is ready to return to his or her host community.
Midterm Break
About halfway through your project assignment, you will have a midterm break. For one or two days, Volunteers get together to share best practices, talk through challenges, and gather ideas for maximizing project success. It is also a time to relax and recharge before the second half of your time in your host community. Most Volunteers will have access to a phone or internet connection so that they can get in touch with family and friends back home.
After midterm, you will go back to your communities for 2-4 more weeks to finish up on construction projects, youth workshops, and community improvement projects. It also is the time you undertake a "community-based initiative" that is locally designed and implemented in close collaboration with host community members. This is usually when you really start to feel part of the community in which you live. You are feeling much more comfortable communicating in a foreign language, can see tangible results of your project, crave local food, and feel like a member of your host family and community!
Debriefing
The final days are called debriefing. This is when all the Volunteers come together one last time and reflect on their experiences. It is a time to celebrate successes and give feedback that will strengthen the program in the future. Debriefing is also designed to help transition Volunteers from life in their host community to returning to their family, friends and life back home.
Finally, Project Staff escort Volunteers to the airport, where they will fly in a group back to either Houston or Miami. Upon clearing customs in the U.S., Volunteers are met by an AMIGOS Travel Coordinator to help you make any domestic airline connections.
