Ted and Susan and the makings of Project Amigo

Project Amigo's founder and executive director, Ted Rose, was born and raised in Los Angeles. After serving in the US Air Force, he moved to Eureka, California where he owned an office equipment business for fifteen years. He sold his business in 1986 to move to Colima. In 2000, Ted, a member of the Rotary Club of Colima, Mexico, received Rotary's prestigious Service Above Self Award for his work with Project Amigo.

Ted's wife, Susan Hill, is a native Californian who grew up in Palo Alto. Before moving to Colima, her past career life includes: office manager for a medical practice, Ted’s office manager in his business equipment company, and underwriter of medical liability insurance. Susan is responsible for organizing the annual fund-raising tours and providing logistical support for all Project Amigo programs. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Colima.

History

Project Amigo has a long history in Colima, Mexico. When Ted first visited the state of Colima, back in 1984, he went to hike on a volcano. But, instead, he took the wrong bus and found himself in a little poverty-stricken village. That mistake, and a few other fortuitous events, led to his decision a couple of years later to trade his comfortable life as the owner of an office machine company for a life surrounded by wonderful, and very poor, children who appeared to need a helping hand if they were ever to break out of poverty.

In December of 1984, he and his wife Susan Hill went to Colima to hold a Christmas party for the 50 disadvantaged rural poor children that Ted had met a few months earlier. The children lived in an albergue (a room and board facility provided by the State Education Department to help families send up to three of their children to primary school).

In 1986 Ted and Susan moved to Mexico and set up a small typing school at the rural albergue. Boys and girls in fifth and sixth grades learned to type, and discovered that a skill like that could help them find better employment in the future.

Project Amigo's involvement with the other three albergues in the state began in 1990, bringing educational materials, access to dental care and cavity-prevention programs, and stimulating field trips to nearly 200 children each year. These programs were (and still are) intended to keep children motivated to stay in school to finish their primary school education. As support from friends, Rotarians and Rotary Clubs grew, Project Amigo expanded its mission and its programs.

Efforts to improve education and health standards at the migrant labor camp in Queseria began in 1997. Over the years, Project Amigo has built two classrooms, a kitchen, children's bathrooms, and hired two teachers. Playground equipment, a protective fence around the school grounds, and a roof over the veranda of the school have been added with funds from Rotary Foundation matching grants and donations from individuals and Rotary Clubs.

The State-run albergues were closed in 1999. Project Amigo continues to offer incentive programs to needy 4th, 5th and 6th graders in rural communities in the Colima area. The scholarship program in place today had its humble beginnings in 1996. It has grown from offering seven junior high school scholarships to providing 110 scholarships a year for junior high, high school and university.