My Amistad Experience

My first visit to Amistad was in 2002 with a youth group led by Ken Swanson from Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville. During the ten days that we spent with the children in the Villa and the people of Aramasí, I saw how the Mission gave hope and a new beginning to their lives. As many visitors often comment, the journey to Bolivia changes one’s perspective on what is important. The smiling faces and warmth of the children, who had suffered great sadness and despair before arriving to the Villa, enabled me to understand the intrinsic value of service to the poor. After departing, I made a promise to return to Amistad for an extended period of time.

In the summer of 2004, following my second year in college, I had the opportunity to spend six weeks in Cochabamba, studying Spanish at the Maryknoll Language Institute and volunteering in the Villa. Having developed a relationship with some of the children from the first trip, I felt much more connected to the Mission and able to share in their daily lives. Some of the experiences I recall include pickup soccer and basketball games, assisting with homework, reading storybooks, washing clothes by hand, going to mass, and enjoying long talks with the mamás after dinner. These small acts of solidarity and friendship gave me an awareness of how the children become attached to North American visitors and value the moments spent together. When it was time to leave again, I had difficulty saying goodbye to the children and wondered if I was simply another person entering and exiting their lives. But I also felt God telling me that this was not to be the end of our relationship.

During my senior year in 2006, I continued to talk with Ken Swanson about my passion for Amistad. He told me that there was a need for a one-year volunteer in the Villa, and I realized that this was a calling to return. I arrived in September and began living in a small apartment in the Villa. It was amazing to see how much the children had grown and changed since my first visit four years before. They welcomed me once again and made me feel a part of their families. In turn, I tried to serve some of their needs through various projects. These included: a reading room to promote literacy and reward book completion; a microenterprise with the Villa bakery (created with Gray Skinner, another Amistad volunteer, and a Peace Corps volunteer) to provide vocational and business management training for the older children; a Scouts program (developed with Villa personnel) to teach morality and life skills; a profitable recycling program to encourage the children to take care of their environment; and communal compost piles.

These projects helped me to see the gifts and creativity of the Amistad children and the importance of providing an opportunity for them to discover their strengths. The constant achievements and successes of the children most struck me during this visit. Every week, it was possible to encounter a story of a child who had learned a new skill, made a good grade on a difficult test, won a prize for a special talent, or helped out a friend or younger sibling, among many other things. What would their lives have been like without the Amistad Mission?

When it was time for me to return to the States in August of 2007, I did so with the knowledge that Amistad would always be my second home. I began to work in a school in Nashville that specializes in helping children with learning differences. For two years, I enjoyed helping these students to develop social and life skills. However, I began to feel that God was calling me back to Amistad. Through prayer and from talking with Executive Director Amy Thompson about the needs of the Mission, I felt compelled to return and serve. Several months ago, I arrived to Cochabamba once again. Since that time, I have been blessed with the opportunity to reconnect with the children who have been with Amistad for years, develop friendships with the new ones, and witness the transformational experience felt by groups who visit the Mission for the first time.

In the months ahead, I look forward to sharing with readers more accounts of Amistad Mission’s role in the lives of the Bolivian people. If you would like to learn more about the work being done here or wish to become involved, please check out Amistad´s website www.amistadmission.org.