Partners Campus at the University of Wyoming is a student chapter for the Partners of the Americas, which is based on collaboration with educational institutes and the UW chapter is student led and provides opportunities for community leadership, volunteer work and professional development.
“This institution was started in the 1960’s by President John F Kennedy whose main aim was to gather all of the Americas as one,” President for Partners Campus at UW Nicolas Arizaga said. “His idea was to create a non-profit with the slogan to ‘Serve, Connect and Change lives.’”
The chapter established here at the University of Wyoming is the first one in the U.S. It was established in 2012 and was officially recognized as a student chapter in 2017.
“Our main goal is how the U.S. can help countries in Latin America and how Latin American countries can help the U.S,” Arizaga said. “We basically want to help each other. It is promoted by the U.S. We receive funding from state departments, other organizations foundations and private companies as well.”
The whole institution is based on sisterhood and chapters. Wyoming has a sisterhood with Goias in Brazil.
“Kennedy’s main idea was to have each state have a specific region, so they can know what exact problems they have and how they can cooperate with each other,” Arizaga said. “In 2017 we were finally recognized by this large organization, allowing us to receive funds. We have made exchanges with other chapters by hosting people from Bolivia, Columbia and Brazil.”
Last year, the program bought beads from Brazil to make earrings and bracelets. They then conducted workshops at the university for students to learn how to make them and purchase them as well. By the end, they had collected $50,000. The program put that money toward purchasing a mammogram machine (breast cancer detection machine) for their sisterhood in Brazil.
“This institution is a great way to connect,” Secretary for Partners Campus Juan Vintimalla said. “We learn a lot about other cultures and we help in non-beneficial projects by raising and sending money to poor countries. I really like to help and volunteer with these projects to help those kids who suffer and offer them a better education and a brighter future.”
They also have English emersion programs; these are for learning and teaching English. They had a group go to Brazil to help the teachers gain a better understanding of the language.
The programs biggest event this year is the “Festa Brasil,” held last Saturday, March 30 where they showcased the unique culture of Brazil. They hosted authentic performers and students coming in from Brazil to give UW a glimpse of their vast culture and diversity.
“This RSO can teach you a lot about organizational skills, give you a lot of contacts to get internships and here you learn by actually doing stuff,” Arizaga said.
Vintimalla said, “Working for the ‘Festa Brasil’ [event], I have learned a lot about the procedures [such as] tabling, ASUW and basically learned how difficult it is to organize such a large-scale event.”
Partner Campus is beginning to spread across campus with more students joining the chapter.
“Our RSO is growing in its capacity, we are more unique than traditional RSOs,” Arizaga said. “We want to engage people in sectors that they are interested in and give them a chance to work on something that they are passionate about.”
