What inspired you to work for AMPED Abroad?
After I finished school, I was an exchange student in Pennsylvania for one year. I noticed that very few people knew about Latin America and almost no one spoke Spanish, so I use this abroad experience to give speeches about my culture (Ecuadorean), food, traditions to lots of classes and organizations in the community, like the Rotary Club. I love Latin America - I love our cultures, and I love teaching and educating others. AMPED Abroad helps me to combine all the things I love into one role and help develop future professionals worldwide.
Describe a typical day at work.
I come to the office at 9:00 a.m., check my emails, and see what Skype meetings I have for the day. I prepare all the material I will need for each meeting with possible participants. Also, I check how volunteers and interns are doing at their placements and see if I can help them in any way.
What is your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part of the job is giving people the opportunity to expose themselves to other cultures in an impactful way. Volunteering and interning abroad helps participants to engage with people and cultures in ways they can't by simply traveling and touring. It's an education. It helps them to recognize the similarities among people in the world. It also helps them to better understand and appreciate what makes us different.
German retired teacher working with preschoolers
What challenges do you often face and how do you overcome them?
The most common challenge is that people arrive with unrealistic expectations. Some participants want and expect the same conveniences they have at home.
For some participants, the goal of learning and serving becomes a lower priority after they arrive in-country. They come and realize all there is to see and do and then decide that they don't want to spend as much time volunteering. That is disappointing and frustrating. They've made a commitment to the project so others are depending on them. There is also a significant amount of time and resources that goes into making all of the arrangements - phone calls, email exchanges, interviews with the participant, the project, and the host family.
For participants to try to back out when they arrive is unfair to the project and the community the project serves. In those instances, I remind participants of the commitment they made and convince them to remain at their projects.
What are some current projects you are working on?
Right now is a busy time for AMPED Abroad. We're really excited about expanding our services in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. We have about 130 community projects between the three host countries. We're particularly excited about our mobile health clinic project in Peru. Medical interns travel to the rural, mountainous areas of Cusco and villages near Machu Pichu to provide much needed medical services to the indigenous people of those regions. Without this project, the people would not receive the medical and healthcare attention that they need - monitoring vital signs, prenatal care, proper hygiene, etc
This is me in one of the Inca Ruins in Cusco - Peru
What advice would you tell your pre-travel self?
Research the host country before you leave. Be open minded. Do not try to change the way people do things think or live. You are there to share their lives. Teach things with love and care and always have a smile on your face because that will bring you lots of friends.
What makes AMPED special?
I think AMPED is special because of the partners we work with and the host families. They are carefully selected and both work to make the volunteers and interns feel like family members. We're all committed to making sure that they have a safe, quality learning experience.
Why should someone choose AMPED over competitors?
Participants should choose AMPED because of its commitment to working with communities abroad and providing quality service learning opportunities for participants. AMPED and its partners have over 30 years of combined experience offering enriching volunteer placements, internships, and language classes in safe, friendly locations.
Are there any developments with AMPED that you would like to share with us?
After some careful thought, AMPED is now rebranding itself. We have a new logo and tagline (Serving to Learn. Learning to Serve.) that better reflect who we are and what we do. Soon our updated website will go live. It will also feature our new brand. As always, we will carefully look for partnerships in other host countries, including countries outside Latin America.
Dental Intern providing free dental cleaning to children at a rural elementary school
What do you hope participants take away from AMPED programs?
I hope participants develop an appreciation for differences. There are many ways that we are similar, but there are also many ways that we are different, and we might approach different problems and situations a different way. It doesn't mean that their way is right and the ways of their host country are wrong. It doesn't mean that the host country is right and the participant's home country is wrong. It only means we are different. And that is okay. The world would be a boring place if everyone was the same.
Why do you think learning a new language is important?
I think learning a foreign language is very important because this will open the doors to other experiences for young professionals. Participating in programs abroad will mean having constant interactions with locals to practice the language. Now a days, new CEOs do not only want professionals with good GPAs, but also good people who can be tolerant, responsible, and can work with a team of people from diverse cultures and backgrounds.
What advice do you have for individuals thinking about going abroad?
Traveling will make you learn about yourself and how much you can give to others. There are so many skills you can share and you will learn so much by serving communities abroad. At the end of your program, you will come back a better person and with an experience that will change your life for good.
US Nursing Student doing her internship at a Public Hospital or Cusco Peru - Oncology Children's Unit
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
Meaningful travel means you're having substantive interactions with the citizens of your host country and engaging with the culture beyond a surface level. You're not acting like a tourist and staying in a resort/hotel. You're seeing and experiencing what life is really like abroad. That can mean open, candid conversations about social issues or what their daily life is like. That can mean exploring the culture through the cuisine. That can mean learning a different approach to solving a common problem.
The volunteer placements and internships are really eye opening from that standpoint. That means living the way the families of your host country live, which is why AMPED really stresses the importance of a host family stay. More importantly that means experiencing life beyond yourself and what is familiar to you.
What hopes do you have for the future of international education?
In the past, a small percentage of the US population traveled outside of the country for study abroad, volunteer, internship purposes. Electronic devices have made the world a smaller place, and more people from the US now seem to be open to study and service learning placements abroad. I am very happy to see that over the last 10 years, universities in the US are promoting more of these opportunities. I hope to see the growth continue. There are so many things that textbooks don't teach you and these are the life experiences you will get when you spend some time in educational programs, sustainable education, and community programs abroad.
