Twelve days after the departure of the AMIGOS volunteers, I am on a plane flying back to the States. The departure of the volunteers was a day that woke up at 2:00 am in order to send off 60 plus volunteers by 10:00 am. We corralled the volunteers into the airport by 3:30 am, said teary goodbyes, and sent them on their way by 5:30 am. From there us Staff still had six national volunteers who we dropped off in their own Panamanian communities by 9:30 AM. In true AMIGOS fashion, a lot of work was done by 10:00 AM. When my last volunteer (a Panamanian) was dropped off at the entrance of her community outside of Quito, I felt a giant weight lift from my shoulders. Suddenly I was not responsible for the well being, mentally and physically, of eight human beings. I realized that for the past six weeks I had been on constant alert in case anything were to happen. I woke up at 6:30 AM every morning, and the first thoughts that entered my head were about my volunteers. I was constantly thinking about their projects, their health, their happiness, their safety. Though it was stressful to have so much responsibility, I truly enjoyed the experience. I really liked being a role model to high schoolers. I found it fun and interesting to find the right balance between being a friend and an authority figure.
The volunteer experience is one very large part of the program, but another equally important part is the host community experience. The relationships I built with my volunteers were strong, and I think I built just as strong relationships with the community members. My job is essentially to be the link between the (sometimes clueless) volunteers and the goals and mission of AMIGOS. Thus, I worked really hard to build trust with host families and other people who were involved in the experience with the volunteers. Because the host community experience is so important to AMIGOS my job didn’t end with the departure of the volunteers. The volunteers left by 10:00 AM, I was at Staff House by 12:00 PM, and the next morning I was on a bus to community by 6:00 AM. In every community the Project Supervisor has to do “close-outs”, which basically entail having a community meeting with members who were involved with the project and the volunteers. For example, I invited host families, teachers, and construction workers. The meetings were short, but so valuable for the betterment of the experience for everyone. AMIGOS has plenty of flaws being a volunteered-centered program working on “community development” and “sustainable cultural-exchange” in developing countries in Latin America. But, for what it is, AMIGOS does a very good job at making it as sustainable as possible. I truly did value what community members say, and I made a big effort to pass on their advice to those higher up at AMIGOS (via plenty of paperwork). One of the most important things I learned was to not have so much doubt in the presence of Volunteers (whether they be Panamanian or United States-ian) in these rural communities. I really questioned the impact they had on the communities and if the communities really did benefit from their presence (whether it be personal relationships or monetary help). Only in the close-outs did I see more clearly the positive impact most communities felt. I was surprised with the amount of desire to have Volunteers in the future, the amount of excitement for future projects, and the lack of complaints. I now have more faith in the experience, whereas at the beginning of the experience I really doubted it. All that being said, I would recommend this job for people who are ready for responsibility and have the ability to be more flexible than you thought possible. Imagine being a camp counselor. Multiply that experience by 5,000 and then throw yourself into a foreign country that you have never been to. Toss in many a teenager, digestion troubles, and unpredictable public transportation. Be ready to be an automatic role model, to be a “special visitor” everywhere you go, to eat plates and plates of rice, to slam delicious government-distributed cookies, and to wake up with the chickens (and everyone else) at 4:30 AM. And then if you can do this, you can probably take on any other job anywhere ever.
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Happy Fourth of July!
I am celebrating my American pride from Staff House where myself and the other supervisors are reeling from an incredibly busy 5 days of volunteer briefing. We still have a ton of work to do today (planning local volunteer training for example) and probably won’t by celebrating the holiday in true American glory. We received 60-some volunteers in the Panama City airport sunday night (/monday morning…). We also met up with our Panamanian youth volunteers and then gave everyone 3 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Do the math and you will figure out that the day before we made 180 PB&Js. Briefing the volunteers for their five weeks in the field was quite the experience. Let my preface by saying that I clocked a total of 16 cumulative hours of sleep from Sunday until Thursday. The days were fully bilingual because we had a group of volunteers that were from here in Panama and the US. We talked about health and safety, dengue, cultural sensitivity, chicken prevalence, curriculum, and how to facilitate campamentos, or daily camps that the volunteers run. The nine staff spent many an hour one night creating pairs of volunteers and then placing them into communities. The next day I answered questions about community placements for hours upon hours. It was so exciting having the opportunity to place live people into host families who were so excited to receive volunteers. Thursday morning we piled volunteers into busses and dropped them off at their families. The nerves and excitement were almost tangible in the humid air as we wove into the mountains. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience sending the volunteers off into their communities. I would announce “Villa del Carmen is up next!” and then we would hop out of the pick up truck. Bags would fly out of the bed of the truck and volunteers would take an especially long time to put them on their back as curious host families stood by. Then I would give them an (extended) long hug, wish them luck, and send them on their way. It has been quite an adventure and it is only just beginning! Greetings from Penonome, Panama! I am tuning into the Build:Latin America blog for the first (and not last) time this summer. It is hot, buggy, humid and beautiful in this vibrant country. I will be working in this region until mid-August as a Project Supervisor with Amigos de Las Americas. To quickly give some background, I will explain Amigos de Las Americas and then my role. Amigos is a program run out of the US that sends US students and recently Latin American high school students to communities in Latin American countries for summer projects. The volunteers are partnered up and placed in communities where they work to plan and follow through a Community Based Initiative Process. They are placed with the support of local NGOs, and through a process of community involvement, the volunteers and community members identify a project. Throughout the summer the volunteers organize daily camps for the local youth and also work on their CBIP. My role is to support the volunteers and serve as a liaison between the volunteers and their communities, host families, families, and partner agencies. I will soon be departing for the field, where I will be traveling between potential host communities, introducing myself and Amigos, and finding host families for the volunteers. It will be challenging, but rewarding and it is very necessary! So far, I have been staying in a little house in the capital city of the province, Penonome, with the other staff members. We have had intense days of training- including a scavenger hunt (emergency room, health clinics, laundry mat, amongst a few), case scenarios, and general Amigos briefing. There are 9 of us staff and we have created a really great living environment where I will be spending some of my time until August. Where will I be spending the rest of my time? In the communities with the volunteers. I will be traveling Monday morning and won’t come back until Friday. These days will be spent visiting with my different placements, listening to them, brining them supplies from the city, helping solve problems, and serving as a mentor. I have a lot to do- but I will be tuning in as often as I can. Nos vemos! |
Lydia CollinsLydia is the Project Supervisor this summer for Amigos de las Americas in Panama. Archives
August 2014
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