In the early morning hours of June 14, 2001, my wife and I hugged and kissed our 16 year-old daughter goodbye and watched as she confidently walked down the jet way. I was both tearful and exhilarated at the same time. Tearful for the loss of her company and fear for her safe return; exhilarated knowing that she would have an experience which would surely change her life forever. How, I questioned, did I give consent for my child to travel to a foreign country for the entire summer. So began Carrie's 8-week odyssey to Costa Rica. A flashback momentarily went through my head and it was I getting on the plane instead of Carrie, my daughter.

In the fall of 2000, Carrie was trying to decide how to spend her summer months. She had spent the preceding eight years at camps in the Texas Hill Country. She informed her mother and me that she was through with camp and needed something different. We gave her several suggestions and none seemed to attract her attention. When I mentioned Amigos, she paused and then a big smile appeared on her face. "Yes", she said, "I might just be interested". My wife Ilene arranged an interview and she was hooked.

Amigos de las Americas was founded some 35 years ago in Houston. Since that time, countless high school students from all parts of the country have given up their summer vacations to travel to the many Latin American countries Amigos has served over the years. While there, they have participated in the many programs in which Amigos has been involved. These have included inoculation, latrine construction, dental hygiene, community development and improvement, and more recently, construction and preschool programs.

During the summers of 1974 and 1975, I traveled with Amigos to Colombia and Ecuador respectively. I was interested in medicine and both my parents encouraged me to seek extracurricular activities, which could help me be certain of my decision to pursue medicine. My own experience had a dramatic impact on my life in many ways. I spent my two summers vaccinating villagers against measles, polio and tuberculosis.

My summer in Colombia was spent near the Venezuelan border in Arauca. This is now the center of the Colombian drug trade, but in 1974, it was a beautiful, hilly countryside with even more beautiful inhabitants. I quickly grew to love not only the people I was helping, but their culture as well. A simple way of life for a people who were always grateful for what little they had been given. We were always welcome wherever we went and people gave us their most treasured possessions for doing what we had been trained to do.

My summer in Ecuador was spent in a small fishing village on the Pacific coast located at the mouth of a small river. The village was very inaccessible, a days travel along the beach waiting for the tide to recede. The villagers earned meager livings primarily as fishermen. None could afford to house my two partners and me and we lived in the local jail, which was a grass hut with a lock on the door. We spent many days traveling up the river in motorized canoes deep into the jungle to reach the most remote villages. No electricity, no running water, absolutely none of the modern amenities we all take for granted.

When we arrived, the villagers were frequently assembled with the blowing of a conch shell. We were quickly befriended and given anything and everything we needed. The majority of the people had large families and lived in grass huts. After a long hike through waist deep mud in the jungle terrain, I would question the decision to voluntarily spend my summer this way, but invariably we would arrive at our next destination, greeted with open arms and even wider open hearts. The cultural aspects of the experience were incredibly moving and I still have vivid memories of the thankful people I met 26 years ago.

Amigos volunteers spend 7 months training for their summer programs. Training sessions include Spanish, first aid, culture, human relations and task specific instruction. Team building is also a very important part of Amigos and each chapter has training events that stress the importance of working as a team, something the volunteers must do in the field.

I know that it was the immense impact Amigos had on my life that allowed me to give Carrie the green light to become involved in the program, while my wife just somehow managed to go along with it. We worried about her in Costa Rica but I knew she was doing something that would leave an indelible imprint on her mind and soul as it had on mine. Carrie, of course, made it home safely in August. As we drove home from the airport she enthusiastically told stories of her family and her project, which involved preschool children. We had a new bond!! A second generation Amigo, what better way to share with the world.

Last Updated
2/6/02 6:43 PM