Amigos de las Americas- Oaxaca, Mexico

The two months that I spent living in a small rural village in Oaxaca, Mexico has greatly influenced my life in numerous ways. Firstly, it showed me the privilege that I've had in my life. Whether it was the many showers taken with a bucket of cold water taken from a creek that made me realize that not everyone had hot potable water available to them at any time in in a nice clean warm bathroom; the short walk to the latrine that made me think about the absurdity that I not only have a toilet with water in it, but perfectly potable water nonetheless - in my toilet; spending all day every Sunday laboriously washing my clothes by hand while praising the person who had the good sense to invent washing machines and how spectacular it is to be hooked up to a power line that powers many appliances that do much of the work for you; or whether it was listening to my host dad's stories of the hardships of trying to cross the border into the US in order to make money to send it back to his family in Mexico that made me wonder at my good fortune to be born into a middle class family in the United States, I have gained an appreciation for much of the commonalities and hidden (and not so hidden) privileges in life. Secondly I gained a whole new perspective on different aspects of life: what is it about (money or family?), differences in gender roles between our two cultures (in the village there, woman did do all of the cooking and clothes washing for the whole family and men went to work, both were very involved in their children's development - I met some of the best dad's I've ever known there, and they found it hilarious (but accepted) when I asked to cook with the women of the village), people's goals, family relations, etc.

Now of course, not all of it was peachy. There were moments where I missed my family and friends in the US terribly and longed for heated house and my own bed. There were times that I thought my family in the US would be disappointed with my time there because sometimes, stuff didn't get done as fast as many Americans are used to it getting done. And there were times where all I really craved was some good ol' refined sugar and a hamburger. This however would inevitably pass, and taught me to not take for granted my family and my friends.

Yes, there were tough times, and yes, there were times that I laughed uncontrollably and had huge amounts of fun. In all it was an amazing experience that words cannot completely describe, but one that I wouldn't ever forgo if I had the choice to do it again.

Being an Amigo in Oaxaca, Mexico, was one of the best things I have ever done. I was able to meet people and explore their culture, language and different ways of thinking and living in a way that I would never have been able to do without AMIGOS. This experience widened my perspective and my quest for a deeper understanding of different people.

I recommended this to all who have an interest in Latin culture, service learning, and leadership.
While I was there we held educational summer camp classes for kids ages 7-12 about nutrition, health, the environment and natural foods.

This was an amazing experience. I lived with a host family and got a complete immersion experience. Working with the kids in the community was really rewarding. It was hard because you can't talk to people at home except for once, in the middle of your stay. One staff member, your project supervisor, comes once each week to talk to you about your project, health, and emotional state. They help you with any issues that come up. You have one or two partners, who are also volunteers, in your community to work with.

Amigos is one of the best things you can do with a summer, and one of the best decisions I ever made. I lived in a rural farming community and really bonded with my host family. I'm still in contact with them, and I think about my experience all the time. I became more independent, mature, and improved my language skills. I highly recommend Amigos to all high school and college students.

I really liked hanging out in my community for the most part, but i didn't feel my time as a volunteer was of value. I was there for 8 weeks and all i feel like i did was hang out. I would have liked to have more volunteer time and less fun. Also the service initiative wasnt anything with which i was involved. All we did was just give them money. I think in a less developed country maybe it would have been better. The staff was great, but i didn't like the actual program, i feel like it wasnt worth 8 weeks of my life. A lot of people really enjoyed the program more than I did though.

I learned so much by living in Oaxaca and interacting with my community. I learned to love another culture and a lot about living on my own. I had many difficulties throughout the summer, but my biggest was an two-week long illness at the end of the summer. My supervisor was not supportive or helpful with the emotional and physical elements of that. Because of many factors, my sickness intensified and has kept me out of school half-time since last November. I am still struggling to heal and it is May. I am thankful for what I learned last summer, but I lost almost all of my senior year because of it.