AMIGOS Educates
Youth In Costa
Rica
By Gayle Gabriel
A group of 56
volunteers,
including five
Aggies, will
stay in Costa
Rica for six
weeks to help a
community
increase
educational and
environmental
knowledge by
creating
programs,
beginning on
June 25.
Through the
Junior Master
Gardener Program
and the AgriLife
Extension
Program, the
Aggies have
partnered up
with Amigos de
las Americas,
AMIGOS, a
nonprofit
organization
that helps young
adults cultivate
leadership and
multicultural
awareness
through
community
service in the
Latin Americas.
“We’re going to
do developmental
projects,” said
Travis Helm,
senior
agriculture and
leadership
development
major. “I took a
horticulture
class, and we
partnered up
with AMIGOS to
help initialize
agricultural
programs.”
Founded in 1965,
AMIGOS has grown
from a Houston
youth group to
having 28
chapters and
more than 20,000
volunteers
around the U.S.
“Ultimately what
we are looking
for is to create
a better global
understanding of
where people are
coming from,
especially in
the U.S.,” said
Kristen Kaper,
vice president
of programs for
AMIGOS. “We have
so many
immigrants
coming in from
Latin America.
We want to have
a better
understanding of
where people are
coming from in a
cultural context
and that is
important in
business,
medicine, in
law, no matter
what you do. We
also want to
encourage
leadership
skills because
they apply
across the board
in anything you
do in life.”
Predominantly
working with
education, the
program creates
activities that
increase
community
involvement.
This specific
group will be
focusing on
agricultural and
economic
awareness and
will create
community-based
initiatives that
will facilitate
positive change
in host
communities.
“Volunteers will
work with the
youth in the
communities to
help them come
up with a
community-based
initiative. It
is a process
that looks at
what the
communities are
interested in
building or
training people
in locally and
then applying
for funding from
Amigos and from
other
organizations in
those
communities that
they will be
able to complete
themselves,”
Kaper said.
Being able to
work closely
with the Junior
Master Gardeners
has allowed more
resources to
become available
to the AMIGOS
program.
“We have been
looking for
strategic
partnerships
like this, and
it is so
exciting to work
with both the
professors and
students,” Kaper
said. “The
students have
already had a
whole course on
this, so they
are walking into
this experience
with a
semester’s worth
of training.
They can add so
much value to
our program. So
I’m excited to
see what kind of
ideas they come
up with and to
see the
creativity
involved.”
Before going to
Costa Rica, the
students will
have to go
through both
online and
offsite training
in Miami before
departing for
Costa Rica.
Volunteers will
partner up with
Earth University
in Limón and
will stay with
host families to
practice their
Spanish-speaking
abilities as
well as become
exposed to Costa
Rican culture.
“Volunteers will
spend the first
three days at
Earth University
in our training
program,
learning more
about how the
university works
and also about
how AMIGOS works
on the ground,”
Kaper said.
“They will
receive direct
guidance on how
to function and
how to work
within the
context of our
projects. We
usually have two
to three
volunteers in
approximately 26
communities
throughout the
Costa Rican area
that we are
working in. The
volunteers will
spend about two
to three hours a
day working with
children and
holding
workshops. It is
kind of like
summer camp, and
they will be
focused around
agriculture and
nutrition in
their summer
programs.”
After completing
the program many
of the AMIGOS
volunteers will
be qualified to
apply to be
project and
leadership
staff.
“In our model,
we focus on
leadership by
youth and young
adults
specifically,”
said Erin Hein,
class of 2007
and manager of
marketing and
communications
for AMIGOS. “It
provides this
opportunity for
people as young
as 16 years old,
and I think we
are one of the
only programs
that will give
the environment
to someone that
young where they
can thrive and
have just as
much
responsibility
as older
volunteers.”
Upon returning
to the U.S.,
many volunteers
said they come
away from the
experience with
a different
global outlook.
“Participating
in AMIGOS as a
volunteer was a
life-altering
experience,”
said Carmen
Sullivan,
sophomore
general studies
major. “It
exposed me to so
many people who
have greatly
influenced where
I see myself in
the future and
the career
choices I hope
to make.” |
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