Continental Airlines Partners With ‘Amigos de las Americas’.

Continental Airlines is supporting U.S. high school and college-age student volunteers representing the Amigos de las Américas (AMIGOS) organization who will spend up to eight weeks this summer working with rural Latin American communities on public health projects.

The students will travel to rural host communities to join residents in various projects. Last summer, AMIGOS volunteers built over 100 fuel-efficient stoves, planted 3,100 trees and nearly 200 family gardens, constructed more than 30 latrines, and gave close to 600 health presentations in the Guanajuato, Mexico, region alone.

“Continental is very pleased to support AMIGOS so these young volunteers can carry out their very worthwhile community efforts,” said Pete Garcia, Staff Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, and a member of AMIGOS’ International Board of Directors. “This is another way Continental can put its ‘Working Together’ philosophy in action, to help our neighbors in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Founded in 1965, Amigos de las Américas is an international youth service program headquartered in Houston, working in the field of adolescent development and civic engagement. During the past 36 years, about 20,000 youth have received training and have participated in the AMIGOS program in fifteen different Latin American countries. This summer, AMIGOS has projects in Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Paraguay.
Partnering with prestigious international organizations such as CARE International, Plan International and the American Red Cross, AMIGOS is now broadening its youth-to-youth focus by increasing the number of Latin American young people in its projects. AMIGOS goes into Latin American countries by invitation only and also works closely with local governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, and host communities.

“AMIGOS is an excellent opportunity for American youth to understand how others live, understand other cultures, and grow personally,” said a 17-year-old AMIGOS summer 2000 volunteer from the Washington, D.C.-area “It is a great way to broaden one’s horizons and know what it’s like to help people.”