Copyright 1998: Larry Leonard
 

     They were just an average bunch of tourists, gringos in Western Honduras on a visit to some Mayan ruins.  (Honduras is that level stretch of Central America southwest of Cuba.)  As they were talking, they were joined by the alcalde (mayor) of a tiny nearby village.  The isolation of the area came into theconversation, at which the mayor said that, " ... even God has forgotten that we are here."
     When asked if the government at least sent a doctor up for a visit now and then, the alcalde repeated: "My people have never seen a doctor.  Even God has forgotten that we are here."
     And so began Amigos de las Americas.
     It was less than an Olympic beginning, however.  It wasn't until five years later that something actually began to happen.  This occurred after a presentation to the River Oaks Baptist Church in Houston, Texas.  Hearing the Honduran story, Guy Bevil, the church's minister of youth, some of that youth and a few adults decided to see if they could make a difference.
     In those early Amigo days, the initial goal was simple:  come up with thirty young volunteers who could be trained is some simple community-health practices, then sent south for part of a school summer vacation.  The Honduran Government, itself, presented part of the difficulties.  The people in it were suspicious of the motives, capabilities, competence and dedication of the gringos involved.  (The news and entertainment mediums of other cultures often present you and me as "ugly Americans.")
      Undaunted, Bevil and friends charged ahead.  When their church (the one in Houston) came up with a $25,000 grant, things really took off and in a very little while instead of having thirty volunteers, the Amigos had 285--almost ten times the original plan!  That kind of enthusiasm rattled the anti-American chauvanism of the Hondurans, who decided to give it a try.
     So volunteers from 24 states and two foreign countries had to pass rigorous physical and other tests, then embark on a year-long training program.
     What was the upshot?  Did it work or not?
     Well, the first thing that happened was that the Honduran Minister of Health announced that these young gringos could be credited with extending the life expectancy figures in five of his country's states by three to five years!  His country's official skepticism turned to outright enthusiasm, and the Amigos were urged to return the following year.
     Just as every cloud, we're told, has a silver lining, it seems that some silver linings come with clouds.  What had been a "modest project in one church suddenly had become a huge operation involving hundreds."
     That was 1965.  In 1967, Amigos added Guatemala, by invitation.  Then Nicaragua and Colombia joined up in 1970, and Paraguay hopped on board in 1972, followed by Ecuador (1973), Bolivia and Peru (1974), the Dominican Republic (1977), Mexico (1979), Panama and Venezuela (1981) and Costa Rica (1082).  In 1987 Amigos were working in Belize (an English-speaking country), and by 1989 they were in Portuguese-speaking Brazil.
      Build a better mousetrap, so the saying goes.     There's a Portland chapter of this unusual, and unusually successful, organization.  This coming year, eleven local high school students will, having finished their year of specialized training, head south to help.  They will change the lives of the communities they live in, and be changed in turn, as well.
     Several years ago, a young fellow named Martin Gross watched his older brother interview a friend who had been down there doing this.  The idea intrigued Martin.  He thought it would be a great way to get some use from his years of Spanish classes, he liked to travel, and it would be a kick to do something for other people.
     So, he applied for the program, qualified and got to work.
     "Martin was always a serious child," says his mother, "but this experience changed him.  It made him understand so much more."
     According to materials put out by the parent organization, Amigos usually work by teams in schools, health clinics and from house to house in Latin America.  They eat the local diet and participate in village life.  Besides supplying technical knowledge and supplies, the volunteers assume leadership roles as health educators.
     Services they provide include those in the following areas: community sanitation, dental hygiene, immunizations, eyeglass distribution, latrine construction ... even animal vaccinations.
     Two years ago, at the age of 16, Martin worked eight weeks in Guayacanes, Ecuador; a village of some 300 people.  There had been a recent rabies outbreak, so Martin's main job was vaccinating all the area dogs and cats.
      "The family that I lived with became my family," he says.  "A big part of the program was developing complementary projects.  Besides the rabies program, I found other needs in the community.  We built a community organic garden with the kids in the village.  We gave talks on public health, very basic stuff like washing your hands -- to the kids in the school.  Colgate donated toothpaste and toothbrushes.  We would have tooth brushing sessions with everyone -- Hey, let's go brush our teeth!
     "One of the harvested area crops was soy.  The soy was sent to other areas.  The people in the village did not know how to use it.  We gave cooking lessons for the women in the village.  They thought it was funny that two American boys were teaching them how to cook!"
     (Author's note: if I had my choice for my son between the above activities and participation in drive-by gunfights, I know exactly which I'd choose.)
     Martin liked Amigos so much, he stuck with it, and last year went as what is called a Routh Leader, a support person for a number of field-staff Amigo teams.  Above the route leader comes the Assistant Project Director (in charge of an entire country!) and finally the Project Director and board members back in the U.S.  The majority of those in positions of responsibility are teens!  (You never see any of this on the evening news, do you?  As far as TV is concerned, all our kids are mobsters.)
     Martin says this experience has made him think about possibly going into the Peace Corps after college: "I would like to have a future career in community development.  I want to help others improve their living conditions."
     He won't be going south again as an Amigo.  The total cost per summer--the only part of the whole idea that originally scared his mother--is nearly $3,000.
     "I am working and saving money so that I can go to college.  But, I have saved up enough money to go back and visit my second family and travel around Ecuador this summer.  I am very excited to see them.  We still write back and forth.  It is going to be great to get back to see them."
     Hidden in Martin's expression is one of the keys to the success of this organization.  Amigos never go anywhere without an invitation.  Whether we're talking about a country, a state within a country, a village within a state or a home within that village ... Amigos are always invited.  Always responding to a request for their presence.
     Are there ever problems?  Of course.  Mostly, however, they have to do with Amigo internal operations.  Amigos are very well trained concerning the cultures they are going to live in.  They know about social customs, religious beliefs, holidays and festivals and lots more.  Based on the best information available to THIS WEEK, it looks like difficulties sometimes pop up between team members in the various locales, but the snakes, tigers, volcanoes and revolutions we wondered about don't seem to represent much problem, at all.
     (There was a revolution in one of the countries a few years ago, but the evacuation program worked so well that the helicopters were picking up the kids before most of them even knew there was a problem.)
     This almost trouble-free, almost universal, acceptance of our teenagers must come as a shock to those who actually know one (an American teenager), but prepare yourself for an even bigger shock.  There's a good reason for it!
     It's called the Amigos Standards of Conduct and Community Behavior.  Read on, right from the rules:
     "Amigos expects that you will act in an honest and responsible manner.  Volunteers are not to behave in such a way as to endanger themselves or others.  In Amigos, a mutual concern for the needs and feelings of others must exist.  Amigos is able to operate in Latin American countries because of our excellent reputation of respect for the area's people, customs and institutions.
          "An effective community health care worker must be aware of teaching by example.  Very few actions that you take as an Amigo will go unnoticed.  Be mindful that your behavior should be a model for emulation."
     American teenagers?  Miracles, then, do exist!
     Amigo volunteers agree to the following specific requirements:
            1.  The Amigo volunteer will not engage in any bahavior that may be harmful to the health and safety of the volunteer or others, nor will the volunteer engage in any behavior that may be detrimental to the program.
             2. The Amigos volunteer will not use or possess any drugs which are illegal under the laws of the United States or the host country
            3. The Amigos volunteer will not consume any alcoholic beverage.
            4. The Amigos volunteer will not leave his/her assigned work area without prior permission from a member of the Amigos field staff.
            5. The Amigos volunteer will not engage in amorous conduct.
            6. The Amigos volunteer will not handle firearms.
    So, these young people, who work at odd jobs to get the money to travel to these foreign countries, live by a code of conduct that would please the Pope.  And, they leave behind them memories about Americans that are good.
    It may be the best foreign aid program in the history of our country, and the only one that has affected our children the way this one does.  As Martin's mother recently said, "Yes, it changed him.  He lived with people who don't have anything except each other.  He saw how happy many of them are.  He learned what happiness really is."
    It makes you wonder if we shouldn't  include Amigos de las Americas as part of every Oregon schoolchild's education, doesn't it?

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 AMIGOS SIDEBAR: For more information about AMIGOS DE LAS AMERICA, contact the Portland Chapter at 6300S.W. Nichol Rd., 97223(503) 246-7771(Correspondence training courses are available for those teenagers who do not live in the Portland Area.)

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