This entry is very general and less interesting than it could be, but I wanted to give a broad picture of what an Amizade group experience looks like.  Future entries will explore in more detailed, and hopefully more interesting ways, aspects of the visit and the resulting questions.

We had our first opportunity to work with a group of Amizade volunteers at the end of May.  Twelve students and two staff from Davidson College in North Carolina came to Santarém for a 10 day service project.  I will use Amizade´s model:  Explore, Serve, Understand to describe their visit.

A. Explore:

While in Santarém the group had the opportunity to encounter aspects of Brasilian culture through a capoiera performance (brasilian martial art), trying new foods, going to a pagode (folk dance) event, and talking with students at an English class.

They were also able to explore Santarém and the surrounding region by visiting an open market, examining the biodiversity of the Amazon at the Santa Lucia Bosque (http://bosque-santa.blogspot.com), and traveling by boat 6 hrs up the Amazon River to waterfalls outside of Alenquer.

B. Serve:

The Davidson volunteers initiated construction for a new community center for the Pastoral do Menor.  As mentioned under the Amizade tab, the Pastoral’s services are in high demand.  The Amparo neighborhood was requesting that the Pastoral begin working with their children.  Amizade, through these volunteers, provided the capital to initiate construction.  The Davidson volunteers worked side by side with several professional masons and some neighborhood children who will receive Pastoral´s services.

C. Understand:

Amizade hopes that the experience of A and B (exploring and serving) will lead to C (understanding).  The Davidson students were reflective and often asked difficult questions:  “What are the benefits of international service projects?”  “Would it have been better to just send money for the project?”  “What happens when we go home?”

The questions posed by the Davidson students are some of the same questions we ask ourselves and expect from future groups regarding the role of volunteerism and international travel.  We hope over time our blog will serve as a place for that exploration, informed by our experience and future groups.