Devon bartlett

The Experience of a Lifetime

Devon Bartlett

Acknowledgements I would like to thank Freestyle Academy for all their help and support in making this book. I would also like to thank the Peninsula Chapter of AMIGOS for allowing me to take pictures, interview people, and document their work. Thank you to my parents for your support during my AMIGOS summer. Thank you to Jackson Bartlett for countless edits of my paper.

Table of Contents Preface...

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Introduction...

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Chapter One...

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Chapter 2...

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Chapter 3...

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Conclusion...

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Works Cited...

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Preface W

hen I first joined AMIGOS, I had no idea what I was in for. People stressed the fact that it was an emotional roller coaster, and at first I didn’t believe them. Boy was I wrong! My AMIGOS summer is something I will never forget, it was such an amazing experience. There were times when I questioned why I was participating in AMIGOS, how I would deal with the project and my campamentos, and sometimes even whether I would make it through my summer alive!

However, as soon as I reached Panama my doubts were washed away. Everything was so vibrant, from the people to the houses. People were friendly, welcoming, and fun. I still had my tough times, but overall I would not change a thing.

When I heard about the Documentary project the first thing that popped into my mind was AMIGOS. My experience was amazing, and I couldn’t think of a better way to share it than by informing people of what AMIGOS does, and why they do it.

I faced some challenges while creating this book, but I think they make me even more proud of it. At first I was not sure what to photograph, however this worked out okay, and I am happy with the shots I got. Writing an informative book about AMIGOS was also hard, it was difficult to not talk only about my experience. This in itself was a learning experience, but I also learned many other things. I learned a lot about working with other people during this project. Trying to work out scheduling for an interview and trying to coordinate two people’s schedules can be really difficult! Nonetheless, I take this as a great learning experience and feel as though I got great material from my interviewees.

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Introduction

he end of my six-week stay in Panama was drawing to a close. Anna, my partner, and I sat on the front porch of Mirtha’s house with her and her son, Ricardo. The chickens clucked noisily around in the grass and cows wandered by. Ricardo chased the dogs around the porch.

Mirtha, Anna’s host mom, pointed to a cow and told me, “You should take that cow home with you.” Anna and I laughed, however Mirtha went on to explain how I could take it home, from putting it in my suitcase to buying the cow its own airplane ticket. We laughed and relaxed on the porch, satisfied with our work from the summer. Our community project, a kitchen for the church, was nearly done. Our campamentos, or summer camps, were a success. A summer full of new experiences, ranging from scary to exciting, was almost over, and Anna and I had become more confident in our Spanish speaking abilities and leadership skills.

Leadership is an important aspect of everyday life. There are many ways to improve or develop leadership skills, which gives people more opportunities when they can lead and be confident in their abilities and themselves. In order to create or improve leadership abilities, there are many suggestions for how to do so. Some say it helps to focus on personal strengths and specifically on improving leadership. One theory says “...that leadership requires a strong personality with a well-developed positive ego; self-confidence is essential.” (Four Theories of Leadership). There are also different types of leaders with strengths in different areas. There are many things people say about how to improve leadership skills, but Amigos de las Américas (AMIGOS) creates leaders in a different way than other theories.

AMIGOS demonstrates that different ways to develop leadership are through volunteering, taking risks, and traveling. Volunteering shows people how fortunate they are, which allows them to see the value in volunteering, often making them want to continue to support people less fortunate than them. Taking risks puts people in situations they might not be comfortable in, allowing them go on a journey of self discovery. AMIGOS creates leaders because when volunteers are in a small rural communities in Latin America they have to put themselves out there and in order to get done what needs to be done. Travel allows people to see the world and the different ways people live giving them a greater understanding of the world as a whole. This means AMIGOS takes an approach to incorporate these three important aspects into the program.

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Chapter One W

Amigos as an Organization

hat is AMIGOS? If you ask any volunteer that question you will get an answer such as, “AMIGOS is a non-profit organization that sends high school and college age students to Latin America for six to eight weeks.

In their selecte d count r y , volunteers l i v e w i t h a host f a m ily, run cam p am e n tos with the local youth, and work with the community on projects that

are sustainable and benefit the entire community. AMIGOS focuses on youth leadership, crosscultural immersion, and community based development.” On these six-toeight week trips AMIGOS volunteers can spend their summer in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Ecuador, Perú, Colombia, or Costa Rica.

In addition to these summer projects, there are projects for college students that can be up to nine weeks, as well as gap year programs. So on the surface that’s what AMIGOS is, but how did it get to that point?

Let’s start at the beginning of AMIGOS. AMIGOS

was ed in s t ar t1965 when the first group of AMIGOS volunteers went to Honduras to give polio vaccinations in rural areas (Amigos de las Américas). AMIGOS began to develop from there.

Volunteers kept going and giving vaccinations.

The AMIGOS approach evolved over time, and went from giving people vaccinations to construction-based projects.

The projects being built in the communities may not have been what peo-

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ple needed or wanted, and yet they were receiving them. With that idea in mind, AMIGOS continued to grow from going in to provide people with something they didn’t have, to focusing on leadership and being a catalyst for social change.

So why do volunteers sign up for AMIGOS? It sounds like a long time away in a foreign country where you know no one, scary! However, AMIGOS has so much to offer for everyone involved. When a volunteer is asked, a common answer is that people want to improve their Spanish speaking abilities. Maddy Haber, a current volunteer preparing to go into country for the first time this summer says she, “de12

cided to do AMIGOS because… it seemed like a great way to get out into the world and to travel

from getting basic needs to conversation. Yet AMIGOS has so much more to offer than improving Spanish speaking skills. AMIGOS offers a once-in-alifetime experience, a cultural exchange, and a chance to meet and create connections with people in other countries.

Everyone has their own reason for doing AMIGOS, and everyone gets something

and be able to improve my Spanish.” AMIGOS offers a way to improve your Spanish speaking abilities because volunteers are immersed in the language.

Throug hout the summer in Latin America, volunteers are surrounded by people who only speak Spanish and therefore are dependent on Spanish for everything different from it because

no two experiences are the same.

So do people just go into these countries for several weeks unprepared?

No, AMIGOS has extensive preparations for volunteers. This is where the Peninsula Chapter comes in. The Peninsula Chapter is one of many AMIGOS chapters across the United States: “The Amigos chapter network is one of the organization’s strongest attributes… Each of our 25 chapters represents the unique personality of their localities and has the power to connect with members of their

community. Chapters recruit, fundraise, train, organize, and support participants and their

families” (Amigos de las of training like a couple Américas). There is also times a month we have the International Office four hour m eeting s located in Houston, where volunteers can also do their training. Training

provides volunteers with all the necessary information they need, from health and safety preparation to cultural expectations. The Peninsula Chapter goes above and beyond in training. When talking about the training Haber says, “In the Peninsula we do a lot

where we go over things like cultural awareness and… what to expect when you’re in your country… and retreats where we go away overnight to a school and we go more in depth with things to be prepared for once you’re in country” (Haber). However, the Peninsula Chapter does more than just meetings; volunteers are required to participate in two service learning Saturdays. “Service learning is a process of involving students in community service activities combined with facilitated means for applying the experience to their academic and personal development. It is a form of experiential educa-

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tion aimed at enhancing and enriching student learning in course material” (Definition of Service Learning). The Peninsula Chapter works closely with Castro Elementary school. Volunteers run six classes over the course of six weeks on Saturday mornings.

These are to practice preparing for the summer camps they will have to run in country. Each volunteer is partnered with a student from Castro to help them with homework and create a science fair project to be displayed at the Castro Elementary science fair.

When you ask an AMIGOS volunteer what AMIGOS is and what it does, they will answer with a concise, immediate, and enthusiastic response. This 14

is their elevator pitch, something that is useful both in the United States and in Latin America. An elevator pitch “is a short, pre-prepared speech that explains what your organization does, clearly and succinctly” (Crafting an Elevator Pitch). This is useful in Latin America because sometimes people will not know what AMIGOS is or what it does, and so volunteers must explain why they are there and what they aim to do. It is helpful in the United States for explaining to people what volunteers will be doing over the summer, and for product sales. Product sales are when volunteers sell grapefruit, chocolate, and coffee in order to raise money for the summer and projects.

Each volunteer is required to sell 40 boxes of grapefruit, 40 bags of chocolate, and 50 bags of coffee. While it is difficult to sell, it is rewarding when you have sold everything. Another fundraiser that volunteers do is called the letter writing campaign. Here volunteers must mail a letter to 100 people they know explaining AMIGOS and why they are doing AMIGOS. While there is a lot of work that goes into the preparation for an AMIGOS summer, it is all helpful and it all pays off when you have the experience of a lifetime.

“I decided to do Amigos because... it seemed like a great way to get out into the world and to travel and be able to improve my Spanish.�

-Maddy Haber

Chapter Two The AMIGOS Approach

“AMIGOS is really about different cultures learning from each other” -Anna Taylor

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hat makes AMIGOS unique? How is AMIGOS different than other organizations? AMIGOS takes an approach to their projects called Asset Based Community Development, also referred to as ABCD. This means that AMIGOS projects use what the community already has, their natural assets, to develop something in the community. This helps the project to be sustainable and it creates a long term benefit in the community. ABCD is different from need-based community development.

This is bringing in outside resources to “fix” a “problem” in the community. This is not as sustainable and can create more problems than it may have fixed because it requires outside resources to maintain, something that the commu-

nity may not have access to. “The appeal of ABCD lies in its premise that communities can drive the development process themselves by identifying and mobilizing existing, but often unrecognized assets, and thereby responding to and creating local economic opportunity” (Co llaborative for

Neighborhood Transformation). It focuses on direct communication with the community, and community members. ABCD is meant to be community directed, with an outside push to start the development.

Using ABCD is how AMI-

GOS volunteers complete their community projects or Community Based Initiatives Process, referred to as the CBIP. These projects can be anything from a physical construction project to something like the creation of a youth group.

This past summer when I was in Panama we built a kitchen for the community church. The volunteers come into the communities as catalysts for change, not to do the project themselves. Volunteers must hold a community meeting to get input from community members to see what they would like to do in their community. The project must be sustainable and something that benefits the entire community.

AMIGOS tries to avoid using the word “helping” when talking about what they do because volunteers are working with

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the community, not helping them. Helping suggests that these people are worse off than those there to “help” them.

These communities do not need help; they often have many resources, from people to materials, but they need support in mobilizing.

A l s o w h e n volunteers are in their co m munitie s they run campam e nto s, sum m er camps, with the local youth.

These take place every weekday for two hours.

They focus on themes such as health, safety, the environment, youth leadership, and creative expression. They are not formal classes,

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the themes are taught through fun games and activities from art projects to tag. These topics are important because they allow the youth to be better informed. For example, environmental education is important because “Tomorrow’s leaders need to be equipped for tomorrow’s challenges, and we must adequately prepare our children for the future they will inherit. That requires a commitment to providing children with environmental education” (Why Teach Environmental Education?).

This is stressing the importance of youth being educated about problems in society because they are what’s next, they have the ability to create change.

However, if they are not properly informed they could exacerbate the current problems instead of pro-

viding solutions. When I was in Panama one week my partner Anna and I were informing the kids about dengue, a mosquito-transmitted disease.

We told them about where mosquitos live, how to prevent mosq u i to

bites, the symptoms of dengue, and several other important factors. We did this through games like mosquito tag and drawing.

When in a community, volunteers immerse themselves in the community and culture by living with a host family. These host families are not paid, and have volunteers because they

want AMIGOS volunteers in their community. Host families can be some of the kindest people anyone will meet, but it can often be a struggle for these families to feed an extra mouth. This means volunteers often eat at the homes of many people in the community. This is also a good way to meet community members. “As a volunteer, it isn’t only the work that you do that will leave a lasting impact on the local community, but the cultural exchange and understanding in which you openly participate as well” (Culture and Adventure). Cross cultural immersion and cultural understanding are just as important as some of the other parts of the experience. “AMIGOS is really about dif-

ferent cultures learning from each other” (Taylor). People can often visit a place, but if they stay in a hotel or only in tourist areas they will never know what the place and culture

are really like because they are only seeing an illusion created for their enjoyment.

While volunteers are in community, only two to three volunteers per community, there is a support system for them in their country. For

each AMIGOS project there are several project supervisors, a project director and an assistant project director.

The project supervisors visit each community once per week to check in on the volunteers. The project director and assistant project director are in charge of budget, and so much more. All the project staff are there for to support the volunteers.

AMIGOS is unique because of the approach they take to the CBIP in an attempt to make it more beneficial and sustainable. AMIGOS also tries to create lasting bonds with the community and to create a cross-cultural exchange.

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Chapter Three Taking Leadership

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hat is a leader? That is the first important question. A leader is commonly defined as someone who is a good example, a good public speaker, or someone who has influence over others. However, in Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership, Howard Gardner defines a leader as “...[a person] who, by word and/or personal example, Markedly influence[s] the behaviors, thoughts, and/or feelings of a significant number of their fellow beings…” (Gardner).

Here, Gardner is saying that leaders impact those around them in a significant way, from emotionally to changing the way they think about an issue. But why is leadership important? Since

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leaders and leadership are an important part of maturing and taking responsibility as a global citizen.

Youth leadership is an important part of life be-

cause as John F. Kennedy once said, “We must do all that we can, to give our children the best in education and social upbringing - for while they are the youth of today, they shall be the leaders of tomorrow.” It is important for youth to take leadership opportunities

and develop their leadership skills while they are still young. AMIGOS offers an opportunity for youth to develop their leadership and to spread the ideas of the importance of leadership in the global community.

AMIGOS requires volunteers to take leadership opportunities during the CBIP, the campamentos, and several other aspects of the experience. Without leadership skills, volunteers would have difficulty accomplishing anything over their summer. “AMIGOS de las Américas… provides unparalleled leadership and community service opportunities for young people while concurrently contributing to the well-being of hundreds of communities

throughout the Americas” (Peninsula Chapter).

Volunteers are not only gaining invaluable life skills and learning important life lessons, they are contributing to another community. It is not only a gain for the volunteers, but also a gain for the community and its members.

When volunteers return home AMIGOS hopes that they will continue to take leadership opportunities and continue to be push for social change in their home communities.

AMIGOS hopes to create lifelong leaders and catalysts for social change (Amigos de las Américas). There are many problems, even in the United States, so people often wonder why AMIGOS is sending youth abroad to work with foreign communities. Anna Taylor, a volunteer in 2014 says, “It is impor-

tant for people to have a global perspective, and although there is work in the US, AMIGOS allows youth to travel and discover new cultures.” Not only does this experience create a cross cultural exchange, it also helps to form leadership.

Leadership is important in any path someone takes.

When students are in school leadership skills are important for getting the help they need, participating in class discussions, completing group projects, and many other crucial things. “After AMIGOS, I have more confidence as a leader.

I’m not afraid to share my ideas and make my opinions heard” (Taylor).

Often AMIGOS volunteers find themselves better at making their voices known after their experience. Leadership also allows students to take personal initiative and

better understand what they need. Leadership is not only an important skill in school, but also in the future, such as in the workplace. “In order for youth to be prepared to work in partnership with adults, they need to develop and/ or enhance their leadership skills... Promoting youth leadership development is a great way to promote positive life skills learning” (Youth Engagement). In order to move forward in life and move on to bigger and better things, people need leadership skills.

As youth grow up they become more responsible for themselves, which often includes getting a job. Having good leadership skills can be helpful in a job because it helps people take initiative as well as demonstrate maturity and confidence.

Displaying leadership

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“It is important for people to have a global perspective, and although there is work in the US, AMIGOS allows youth to travel and discover new cultures.�

-Anna Taylor

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skills could show that an employee is capable of taking on further responsibilities.

Youth have the power to make a change. AMIGOS not only inspires volunteers to become leaders, but also inspires youth in Latin American communities to become leaders. “With of 1.8 billion worldwide and 90 percent of them living in developing countries… young people are the world’s biggest and most promising asset for transformation” (Leaders of Tomorrow Must be Heard Today). Youth hold promise; they are full of untapped potential. People often say that youth are the leaders of tomorrow. Yet, according to Courage Nyamhunga, a Child Protection Advocate in Zimbabwe, “We are never leaders of tomorrow, but of today” (Voices of Youth

Inspire!). AMIGOS hopes to shape young people to be leaders in the international community and in their own. AMIGOS pushes volunteers to become people who take action and influence the lives of others in posi-

in new cultural environments, take initiative and solve problems, and organize people to create meaningful community projects” (Amigos de las Américas). Cultural knowledge is important in being a successful global leader because without knowledge of countries and cultures other than your own a leader is less aware and less culturally sensitive.

AMIGOS creates leaders who can take action, create, fix problems, and are aware of internationtive ways through their al issues so that they can leadership. serve their communities AMIGOS does not only as best as they can. want people to become leaders, but also culturally aware and sensitive: “Opening yourself up to new experiences in new cultures allows you to grow as a person and a leader…. you gain essential life skills that enable you to be successful

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Conclusion

AMIGOS creates unforgettable experiences for volunteers and communities alike. While AMIGOS provides many lasting benefits in many areas, it helps form leaders through unusual experiences and cross cultural immersion. Youth are the leaders of tomorrow so we must do all we can to prepare them for this role, especially since they can even be considered the leaders of today. Youth are full of leadership potential and have the ability to change the world. AMIGOS gives youth this opportunity. Hopefully AMIGOS will continue to expand, grow, and touch the lives of more people.

The first time I heard about AMIGOS I knew it was something I wanted to do. It was one of the crazy adventures I knew I needed in my life. Normally I find myself to be a quiet person, but there are wild things, like living in a Latin American country for six weeks or swimming from Alcatraz, that strike my interest. I do not know why, nor do I know why my parents support me through these madcap adventures, but I sure am glad they do. I hope that everyone who takes an interest in AMIGOS or volunteers has just as wonderful of an experience as I did, because it was truly unforgettable.

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Works Cited

Amigos de las Américas. Amigos de las Américas, n.d. Web. March 2015.

Collaborative for Neighborhood Transformation “What is Asset Based Community

Development (ABCD)” ABCD Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 March 2015.

“Crafting an Elevator Pitch” Mind Tools. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 March 2015.

“Culture and Adventure” Cross-Cultural Solutions. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 March 2015.

“Definition of Service Learning” Office of Civic Engagement & Service Learning.

Fayetteville State University, n.d. Web. 12 March 2015.

“Four Theories of Leadership.” Boundless Management. Boundless, 08 Dec. 2014. Web. 30

March 2015.

Gardner, Howard, and Emma Laskin. Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership. New

York: Basic Books, 1995. Print.

Haber, Maddy. Personal interview. 2 March 2015.

“Leaders of tomorrow must be heard today, Ban tells Global Forum on Youth Policies”

UN News Centre. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 March 2015 Peninsula Chapter. Amigos de las Américas, 2008. Web. March 2015.

Taylor, Anna. Personal interview. 12 March 2015.

“Voices of Youth Inspire! ‘We are never leaders of tomorrow, but of today.’” Voices of

Youth. UNICEF, n.d. Web. 6 March 2015.

“Why Teach Environmental Education?” American Forest Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 18

March 2015.

“Youth Engagement” National Resource Center for Youth Development. The University

of Oklahoma OUTREACH National Resource Center for Youth Services, n.d. Web. 6

March 2015.

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Gracias!

Devon Bartlett is currently a Junior at Mountain View High School and Freestyle Academy. She enjoys traveling, swimming, reading, and playing with her dog. In the future Devon hopes to continue traveling to new places.

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