In 1965 several hundred young people from Houston volunteered part of their summer to fight a growing epidemic of polio in rural Honduras. Their efforts protected thousands of lives from the crippling disease, while establishing new friendships between the people of Honduras and the United States. This first group of AMIGOS Volunteers returned home far more mature, appreciative of other cultures, and aware of the personal benefits of helping others. Their success underscored that young people can make a positive difference in the world.
Out of that summer AMIGOS was born as a non-profit organization. Since 1965 AMIGOS has consistently maintained a strong tradition of empowering young people to take leadership roles through community service in their home communities and in Latin America. While remaining headquartered in Houston, AMIGOS has grown throughout the United States, with affiliated chapters in many major cities.
During the past 40+ years, more than 20,000 high school and college-aged students have received the AMIGOS training and volunteer opportunity. Today approximately 750 young leaders annually participate in AMIGOS training and Latin American programs through which they, their adult mentors, and their host communities learn skills and forge friendships that last a lifetime.
Through the years, AMIGOS' community service programs have evolved to meet the changing health and development needs of Latin America. Until the 1980s, AMIGOS Volunteers primarily engaged in immunization campaigns, and administered more than one million vaccinations against smallpox, polio, tetanus, measles and other crippling diseases. Subsequently, projects began to focus on community sanitation, dental hygiene and health promotion, resulting in the construction of thousands of latrines and the distribution of hundreds of thousands of toothbrushes.
In recent years, Volunteers have focused more on skill-building of local youth and have conducted a much broader array of health and education activities in response to priorities identified by host communities. Each year, AMIGOS partners with highly respected international development agencies, local non-profit and government agencies, and host communities on a wide range of projects that improve health, education and environmental conditions in hundreds of communities.
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