Author: Nikki Willison

SINCERELY, CARO By Caroline Bybee, Senior Project Supervisor – Paraguay August 21, 2014 As we liked to say back at Staff House in Carapeguá, “Ay qué wow.” Another summer with AMIGOS has come and gone, and more so than ever I feel that this year it flew by before I could realize that it was … Read More

By Flora Pirquet Current International Board of Director 1974 Participant – Nicaragua This past April while on the International Board Retreat, I had the unexpected opportunity to return briefly to the community in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua where I served 40 years ago as an Amigos volunteer. We were visiting a site in the area, and all … Read More

By Krista Boscoe 1982 Participant – Mexico 1983 Participant – Ecuador 1985 Project Supervisor – Ecuador 1987 Project Director – Mexico Current West Coast Development Director – San Francisco     The older I get, the more I realize that life works in mysterious knowing circles. With an invisible current, life brings you to where you need … Read More

By Joe Crownover 50 Stories Contest Submission 1990 Participant – Ecuador 1991 Project Supervisor – Costa Rica 1992 Project Director – Ecuador National Office Staff – Houston, TX Thinking about my AMIGOS days, so many stories to tell… I’ve been involved with AMIGOS since 1990, as volunteer, field staff, IO staff, IAH Board of Directors … Read More

NEVER BORED WITH THE BOARD* April 12, 2015 The first stamp in my passport is from June 10, 2009. I got it when, at sixteen, I landed in Managua, Nicaragua, for my first summer as an AMIGOS participant – or volunteer, as we were known then. At the time, I had a hiking backpack full … Read More

“WHAT DID YOU DO THIS SUMMER?” By Caroline Bybee, Project Supervisor – Paraguay August 14, 2013 My summer job was not like most. I was not scooping ice cream, or interning for some big-wig company, or life-guarding at a summer camp. I wasn’t even in the United States. Since June, I have been in Paraguay, … Read More

By Elizabeth Bonilla, 2015 American Youth Leadership Host Family Reflection My experience as a host mom has been very rewarding and although it was just for a short time, the connections and bonds that were formed were incredible and will last for a lifetime. Although my own children’s Spanish is not too good, they were … Read More

By Bryn Siegel, 1996 Participant, Dominican Republic 50 Stories Contest , 4th Place I recently returned to my Amigos town in the Dominican Republic for the first time in 10 years – bringing my husband to meet my host family and use the latrine that my group of volunteers helped construct 18 years ago! Since … Read More

By Macala Elliott, 2014 Houston Chapter Participant – Madriz, Nicaragua There is a corner of my mind that is always living in the past. What once was the present unravels in hazy flashes, but one moment, a seemingly insignificant moment, continues to be unmistakably clear. I’m sitting in a beat-up red van, sweltering in my … Read More

By Jarrod Ford, 2015 Project Director – Madriz, Nicaragua Eleven to one. That is the ratio of awe-inspiring, intelligent, passionate young women in this group… to me. As the only male here, I feel an unfamiliar burden of solitude as I prepare for an experience that will continue to guide and nurture my development as a … Read More