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AMIGOS de las Americas is an international, volunteer-based, non-profit organization that:
- builds partnerships to empower young leaders;
- advances community development; and
- strengthens multi-cultural understanding within the Americas
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After completing an intensive training program which spans the academic year, high school students are assigned to AMIGOS projects in Latin America for a five to eight week period during the summer. Working in small groups of two to four volunteers, the students collaborate with established organizations as they build life skills and leadership of young people through educational workshops and household and community-wide health projects.
 Volunteers live with families in rural or semi-urban communities, are supervised by more experienced veteran volunteers, and are supported by their home chapter as well as the international headquarters of AMIGOS which is based in Houston, Texas (www.amigoslink.org).
Current AMIGOS host countries include Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Paraguay.
THE SEATTLE CHAPTER
Chartered in 1971, the Seattle chapter of AMIGOS de las Americas is one of twenty-four chapters throughout the United States. Over the past thirty years, it has trained hundreds of young men and women to work in collaboration with Spanish and Portuguese-speaking communities in Latin America. Not surprisingly, thirty years of volunteers have returned to Seattle and other cities to continue a life of community service at home. While most of the Seattle area volunteers are high school students, Amigos also offers opportunities for college students or students outside of a chapter city through its correspondent volunteer program.
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