AMIGOS Is Proud to Announce our new Youth Ambassador Program

HOUSTON, June 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Amigos de las Americas (AMIGOS) is proud to announce its new program, the Amigos de las Americas Youth Ambassador Program. The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) selected AMIGOS as a recipient of the Youth Ambassadors Program. ECA awarded AMIGOS a 2-year grant to manage the exchange of 30 youth annually from Paraguay and Uruguay and 15 youth annually from the U.S.  

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AMIGOS will recruit host families for the Paraguayan and Uruguayan Youth Ambassadors in the San Francisco, California area. The program will be managed by full time staff in San Francisco. The first group of AMIGOS Youth Ambassadors from Latin America will travel in January 2012 while the first group of U.S. Youth Ambassadors will travel in summer 2012. The Youth Ambassadors will spend three weeks training and growing as leaders. After the three-week training period, Youth Ambassadors will return home to complete initiatives in their own communities over the course of a year.

The new AMIGOS Youth Ambassador Program is complementary to, but distinct from, our summer volunteer program. Both programs are focused on youth leadership development through community development and deepening multi-cultural understanding across the Americas. As the details of the program are finalized in the coming weeks, you will be able to find more information on our website: www.amigoslink.org. If you are interested in becoming a host family for a Youth Ambassador in the San Francisco/Bay Area, California please contact: [email protected].

"AMIGOS is delighted to begin our partnership with the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs with the Youth Ambassadors Program. The AMIGOS Youth Ambassador Program will allow greater cross-cultural exchange to occur, developing dynamic young leaders from South America and the United States. The Youth Ambassador Program further enhances AMIGOS efforts to increase the number of Latin American Youth participants, something we have made tremendous strides in during the last couple of years," said Marty Sinnott, President and CEO of AMIGOS.

About AMIGOS

Headquartered in Houston, AMIGOS is an international, non-profit organization that provides unparalleled leadership and community service opportunities for young people while concurrently contributing to the well being of communities throughout the Americas. Over the last 46 years, AMIGOS has facilitated transformational community service projects involving more than 23,000 youth Volunteers and thousands of communities in Latin America. This year AMIGOS will have projects in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay and Peru. With the addition of the Youth Ambassador Program, AMIGOS will also have programs in Uruguay and the United States. For more information, visit www.amigoslink.org.

About the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

Youth Ambassadors are among the more than 40,000 exchange program participants supported annually by the Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). ECA exchanges engage youth, students, educators, artists, athletes, and emerging leaders in many fields in the United States and in more than 160 countries. Alumni of ECA exchanges comprise over one million people around the world, including more than 50 Nobel Laureates and more than 350 current or former heads of state and government.  Through the range of academic, cultural, professional, and sports exchanges, ECA promotes mutual understanding between the United States and other countries.

SOURCE Amigos de las Americas