Location:	San Pedro Paraguay
Length:	5 Weeks
Dates:	July 1, 2008 - August 5, 2008

All dates and information are tentative. Please check back regularly for updates.

Overarching Goal and Objectives:

Goal:

to build leadership and life skills of youth in the Americas through exchange, civic engagement, and collaborative community development

Objectives:

1. increase active youth involvement in communities
2. increase knowledge and awareness of cultural, environmental, and health issues
3. collaborate with community members on Community-Based Initiative (CBI) process

Project Specific Activities:

Volunteers will work with Plan Paraguay to build about 8-10 stoves in each community.  The stove project will be an integrated project that includes educational activities with families on nutrition, reforestation, and benefits of lorena stoves.  Volunteers may also be working with community members to plant trees in order to replenish wood that is used for stoves.  Volunteers will also work with other community groups to plan and implement smaller Community-Based Initiatives (CBI) that benefit the community.  Examples of CBI’s from 2007 include planting trees, community cleanup efforts and school murals.
 
In terms of education, Volunteers will run day camps for children during the two week Paraguayan winter break, which includes extracurricular activities on health and environment.  When school is in session, Volunteers will work with community youth to facilitate educational activities several times a week for children between the ages of 5-12. Educational activities will focus on health and the environment, but will also include components of creative expression, youth leadership and team building.  Sample topics of educational activities from 2007 projects include nutrition, cultural exchange, recycling and dental hygiene.
 
Another aspect of the program is that when Volunteers are in community, they may have the opportunity to partner with a student from the Fundación Paraguaya’s agricultural school for 10 days.  The agricultural school students bring an expertise in organic agriculture and entrepreneurship to communities to share with interested community members.

Project History:

AMIGOS initiated its work in Paraguay in 1972 in partnership with the Ministry of Health. For a number of years the project included a combination of human immunizations and community sanitation efforts. In 1993, AMIGOS expanded its work and divided the projects into two separate projects, one project focused on human immunizations based in Asunción and another focused on Community Sanitation based in a nearby region.

Eight years ago, AMIGOS discontinued the human immunizations project, redirecting efforts towards community sanitation, health and environmental education. This will continue to be our focus, along with the active involvement of youth into community development programs. 2008 will also mark our fifth year of collaboration with Junior Achievement.

Partner Agencies:

Plan Paraguay
Fundacion Paraguaya/Junior Achievement

Further Actions:

• Apply to Volunteer
• View Photos from the 2007 Paraguay Project!