The Wyoming chapter and UW Student chapter of Partners of the Americas started the year by hosting three international visitors.
Two of them are from Brazil and the other is from Colombia. They have been awarded an Education and Culture travel grant funded by the state department and available to partnerships on a rolling basis.
“They sponsor cultural and educational exchanges from both ends, from the rest of the Americas to the US, vice versa,” president of the Wyoming Professional chapter, Dorly Piske said. “Members of the organization are able to apply for these exchanges.”
Gabriela Junqueira and Jovenice Qualhato are english teachers from Goiás, Brazil. Gabriela lives in Goiânia and works at the Brazil-United States bi-national Center for teaching english to children and youth.
Jovenice lives in Inhumas and teaches english to elementary aged children in the local public-school system. This exchange is the first opportunity for these teachers to visit the U.S. and to be immersed in the language and culture and to build professional and personal connections.
“Among many other fun socio-cultural activities, they were able to visit many classrooms and become acquainted with the American education system firsthand,” Piske said.
Karen Herrera is a junior studying psychology at the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia, where she serves as the vice-president of PartnersCampus UniNorte.
Herrera spent one week in Greeley, Colorado, hosted by the Colorado Chapter of Partners, followed by a week in Laramie. Here, she participated in the RSO Fair, attended International Coffee Hour among various other activities on campus and in the community.
“Their experience was further enriched by the opportunity to live with host families, an important component of these exchanges,” Piske said.
Partners of the Americas is a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is based on a “people-to-people” philosophy, which grew out of a 1962 call by President Kennedy for citizens of the Western Hemisphere to work together.
Inspired by the challenge, Jim Boren, one of Partners founders, envisioned a two-way network of volunteer partnerships that would allow people to contribute to the Americas.
“UW chapter is the first student chapter in the United States, and we have been really active with the WY chapter,” president of the UW student chapter, Nicolás Arizaga said. “For an example, last year, we fundraised $50,000 to buy a mammography machine.”
Today, Partners has evolved into 120 volunteer chapters linked in 60 partnerships. Chapters in U.S. form partnerships with chapters in countries or states in Latin America and the Caribbean. Each volunteer chapter is organized as a private, nonprofit institution with by-laws and regularly elected officers.
Partners programs work in many fields, including Youth and Children, Civil Society and Governance, Exchanges and Fellowships, Agriculture and Environment and Gender and Equity. Partners works as a grassroots organization that use partnerships between U.S. and Latin American countries or regions to foster cultural exchange and education.
According to the Partners of the Americas official website, “Partners bring the right mix of players such as volunteers, development professionals, governments, businesses and higher education institutions to the table in order to match resources, knowledge and passion to need. By connecting local organizations to broader funding opportunities and empowering citizens to become agents of change, we develop lasting solutions to our hemisphere’s toughest challenges, together.”
