Amizade
Encyclopedia
Amizade Global Service Learning, usually known simply as Amizade, is a United States-based non-profit organization
that provides service-learning
and volunteer opportunities for individuals and groups across the world . Amizade (the Portuguese word for friendship) is dedicated to promoting volunteerism, providing community service
, encouraging collaboration, and improving cultural awareness in locations throughout the world . Since its founding in 1994, over 4,000 participants have volunteered and served communities abroad . Amizade currently works with community partners in 11 locations in 9 countries among 4 continents .
Amizade programming is driven by a series of interconnected values:
The founder and first executive director or Amizade, Daniel Weiss, obtained his Bachelor’s from the University of Chicago. While awaiting entrance into a PhD program, Weiss attempted to volunteer in Togo, but was denied due to political unrest. Weiss then applied to several international humanitarian organizations and was given the opportunity to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) and hold the assistant administrator position with Fundação Esperança in Santarém, Brazil .
Starting his PhD studies in 1993 at the University of Minnesota, Weiss simultaneously founded Amizade Global Service-Learning to continue helping the community in Santarém that he had grown close to during his work with Fundação Esperança. Amizade sought to connect volunteers with existing community-based organizations like Fundação Esperança that did not have adequate time or resources to fully utilize the skills of many potential volunteers. Weiss felt that connecting communities abroad with volunteers would benefit the community being served while also providing the volunteers with an enjoyable and educational experience .
After completing his PhD in 1996, Weiss devoted his full-time effort to Amizade. By 1998, Amizade volunteers had built an orthopedic workshop and a dormitory for APAE, built a vocational training center and a self-sustaining silk screening workshop for the Pastoral do Menor, a program, and constructed two additional dorm rooms and a children’s health clinic for Esperança, which serves a community of 20,000 .
Expansion in the late ‘90’s…
The late 90’s into the early 2000’s were a promising time for Amizade. The organization expanded through a series of successful university partnerships that allowed Amizade to expand its previous volunteer vacation opportunities to focus also on the potential value and transformational experiences for college and university students. This led to university programs where students engaged in service-learning curriculum and volunteering .
As of 2004, Amizade had worked in over 20 communities in 13 different countries . Amizade has held annual water walks for women’s rights since 2007 .
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! International Sites !! Domestic Sites
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| Karagwe
, Tanzania
|| Washington, D.C.
|-
| Jukwa, Ghana
|| Tuba City, Navajo Nation
, Arizona
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| Santarém, Brazil || Crownpoint, Navajo Nation, New Mexico
|-
| Cochabamba, Bolivia ||
|-
| Petersfield, Jamaica
||
|-
| Puerto Morelos
, Mexico ||
|}
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
that provides service-learning
Service-learning
Service-learning is a method of teaching, learning and reflecting, frequently youth service, throughout the community. As a teaching method, it falls under the philosophy of experiential education...
and volunteer opportunities for individuals and groups across the world . Amizade (the Portuguese word for friendship) is dedicated to promoting volunteerism, providing community service
Community service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....
, encouraging collaboration, and improving cultural awareness in locations throughout the world . Since its founding in 1994, over 4,000 participants have volunteered and served communities abroad . Amizade currently works with community partners in 11 locations in 9 countries among 4 continents .
Mission and Values
Amizade’s Mission:- “Amizade empowers individuals and communities through worldwide service and learning” .
Amizade programming is driven by a series of interconnected values:
- Community-Driven Service
- Deliberate Learning
- Intercultural Immersion and Exchange
- Consideration of Global CitizenshipGlobal citizenshipGlobal citizenship applies the whole world to bring world peace and the concept of citizenship to a global level and is strongly connected with the concepts of globalization and cosmopolitanism. World citizenship is a term which can be distinguished from global citizenship, although some may merge...
- Reflective Inquiry
History
Beginning and the Early Years…The founder and first executive director or Amizade, Daniel Weiss, obtained his Bachelor’s from the University of Chicago. While awaiting entrance into a PhD program, Weiss attempted to volunteer in Togo, but was denied due to political unrest. Weiss then applied to several international humanitarian organizations and was given the opportunity to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) and hold the assistant administrator position with Fundação Esperança in Santarém, Brazil .
Starting his PhD studies in 1993 at the University of Minnesota, Weiss simultaneously founded Amizade Global Service-Learning to continue helping the community in Santarém that he had grown close to during his work with Fundação Esperança. Amizade sought to connect volunteers with existing community-based organizations like Fundação Esperança that did not have adequate time or resources to fully utilize the skills of many potential volunteers. Weiss felt that connecting communities abroad with volunteers would benefit the community being served while also providing the volunteers with an enjoyable and educational experience .
After completing his PhD in 1996, Weiss devoted his full-time effort to Amizade. By 1998, Amizade volunteers had built an orthopedic workshop and a dormitory for APAE, built a vocational training center and a self-sustaining silk screening workshop for the Pastoral do Menor, a program, and constructed two additional dorm rooms and a children’s health clinic for Esperança, which serves a community of 20,000 .
Expansion in the late ‘90’s…
The late 90’s into the early 2000’s were a promising time for Amizade. The organization expanded through a series of successful university partnerships that allowed Amizade to expand its previous volunteer vacation opportunities to focus also on the potential value and transformational experiences for college and university students. This led to university programs where students engaged in service-learning curriculum and volunteering .
As of 2004, Amizade had worked in over 20 communities in 13 different countries . Amizade has held annual water walks for women’s rights since 2007 .
Strategy and Programs
To fulfill its objectives, Amizade provides participants with five different kinds of volunteer programming: Service-Learning Courses, Group Volunteer Programs, Open Group Programs, Individual Volunteer Programs, and Faculty-Led Programs.- Service-Learning Courses: Amizade’s partnership with West Virginia UniversityWest Virginia UniversityWest Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...
’s office of International Programs for Civic Engagement accredits service-learning participants with between 1 and 6 credits that are widely accepted by universities and colleges around the United States. Semester programs through Amizade offer between 12 – 18 credits .
- Faculty-Led Programming: For over a decade, Amizade has worked alongside academic faculty members to organize and lead service-learning courses. Amizade and its participants boast that its faculty-led programming enhances traditional teaching environment and provides students with personal-transformative experiences that often change the career path students .
- Open Group Opportunities: Amizade’s open group volunteering provides individuals or couples the opportunity to join alongside other interested volunteers.
- Individual Placement Volunteering Opportunities: Amizade provides opportunities for individuals seeking volunteer placement or internships with community organizations across the world. Individuals serve for between two weeks and six months, and partake in experiences that include community-driven service, intercultural immersion and exchange, deliberate learning of local culture and global citizenship, and continuous reflective inquiry .
- Group Volunteering Opportunities: For 16 years, Amizade has coordinated group volunteering and service-learning experiences with faculty-led university programs, alternative spring breaks, high school service trips, service retreats, and other groups formed of 6 or more participants .
Sites
Amizade currently has 11 active sites in 9 countries that provide various opportunities for volunteering and service-learning programs .-
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- {| class="wikitable"
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! International Sites !! Domestic Sites
|-
| Karagwe
Karagwe
Karagwe is one of the 6 districts of the Kagera Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the North by Uganda, to the East by the Bukoba Rural District, to the Southeast by the Muleba District, to the South by the Ngara District and to the West by Rwanda, which is divided by the River Kagera.According...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
|| Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
|-
| Jukwa, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
|| Tuba City, Navajo Nation
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
, Arizona
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| Santarém, Brazil || Crownpoint, Navajo Nation, New Mexico
|-
| Cochabamba, Bolivia ||
|-
| Petersfield, Jamaica
Petersfield, Jamaica
Petersfield is a small town in Westmoreland Parish, Jamaica. It shares its name with five other places in Jamaica.The town was founded in the 18th century and named after Peter Beckford, a slave owner who settled the Roaring River Estate...
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| Puerto Morelos
Puerto Morelos
Puerto Morelos is a town and sea port in Quintana Roo, Mexico's easternmost state, on the Yucatán Peninsula. The town is at the southern end of the municipality of Benito Juárez in the northeast of the state, about 36 km south of the resort city of Cancún...
, Mexico ||
|}