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!
1 Comment
Natalie Davirro
6/27/2014 09:04:52 am
Yay amigos! It sounds like you've been crazy busy getting everything set up for volunteers. Which partner organizations are you working with? And I'm definitely interested in hearing about all the project ideas your community members come up with. There are so many endless possibilities on that front.
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Lydia CollinsLydia is the Project Supervisor this summer for Amigos de las Americas in Panama. Archives
August 2014
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