The Colombian coast… The land of fried dough, cheese, coffee, and everything that’s good with the world. With that in mind I’d like to express my stay here has thus far been an extraordinary experience. I am overwhelmed at what vibrant, open, and welcoming culture Colombia continues to be. This experience here with AMIGOS has offered me a unique position among the rural towns that surround The buzzing, metropolitan city of Barranquilla. A position that’s allowed me to immerse myself completely into reality far different from my own. And integration into the community, where they have taken me in and have made me feel as one of them.

Moreover, I’d like to add that this AMIGOS trip has also offered me a unique opportunity to strengthen my team player skills and comprehension. In short, as part of the amigos agenda of achieving full cultural immersion, amigos has structured an integrated, communal group which includes local Colombian volunteers as another resource to further aid and strengthen the culmination of our skills as International youth group- to create a sustainable and lasting social change in our communities.

Specifically, in the rural community of Malambo, my group and I have devised a sustainable project to combat the ongoing threats of drug addiction in the community. Through working with the local youth leaders, and the most active community members we as a whole are wanting to create a center for the youth. We are in the works of creating this productive space for the use or we can fill it with a pleather of meaningful and substantial activities that we hope minimize Malambo’s statistically high usage of drugs amongst it’s local youth. These activities will range from recreational sport, to physiological group therapy, to informative speeches and workshops.

The community of Malambo is united and strong- with our communal group dynamic as amigos, the community members and community youth leaders: we intend on bringing our diverse backgrounds and varying cultural ideologies to create a force to be reckoned with. A force is readily available to extend efforts towards problems in the community. There are so many invaluable recourses that our AMIGOS team is excited and inspired to work with as we take the next few steps in ensuring and realizing this communities potential and vision for creating a space for the grooming of Malambo’s next generation of leaders and catalysts of social change.