Archives West Finding Aid

Partners of the Americas (originally called Partners of the Alliance) was established in 1964 as an offshoot of the Alliance for Progress and came under the jurisdiction of the Agency for International Development. In 1967 it became an independent organization renamed the National Association of the Partners of the Alliance, Inc., later called the Partners of the Americas. A private, voluntary technical assistance organization, it originally involved three states of the United States linked in partnership with three nations of Latin America. By 1980 there were fifty partnerships between 44 U.S. states and 21 Latin American and Caribbean countries. Partnership committees are community based and composed entirely of volunteers who work with their counterparts -- North or South -- to assess resources and needs, and to jointly plan and carry out projects based on the principles of self-help and mutual benefit to both sides of the partnership. Partner program areas are agriculture and rural development, health education, rehabilitation and special education, the arts, journalism, and sports. Some partnerships also work in energy, business and trade, student exchange, disaster relief, and emergency preparedness.

In 1964 support for the Partners program came from only one major source, the U.S. Agency for International Development. During 1979, the Partners organization received grants from five government agencies, eight foundations and 26 corporations located in five countries throughout the Americas.

The Idaho Partners was incorporated September 26, 1964 by Gayle B. Allen, John S. Chapman, George Wilhelm, and Byron Johnson, all from Boise, and Boyd Martin from Moscow. The Idaho Partners failed to file the annual report with the secretary of State due in 1970, and their charter was forfeit on 1 December 1969. The charter was reinstated on 4 April 1979.

Idaho, one of the first three states to be involved, plus Kentucky and Washington, were all assigned to Ecuador. Washington later dropped its partnership with Ecuador, but Idaho and Kentucky continued to share it although a sense of unity was felt lacking. In 1983 it was deemed necessary to delineate the specific areas in Ecuador with which each state would work. This change in the organization's by-laws was formalized at a workshop in Ecuador on July 27, when Idaho was assigned the mountain region which included the cities of Guayaquil and Cuenca while Kentucky's assignment was Quito and Umbato. This new plan eliminated the necessity of Idaho's having to go through the organization in Quito for any Partners work. The partnership consists of a national committee of citizens in Ecuador and a nonprofit incorporated citizens group in Idaho. No government agencies are involved. Emphasis is placed upon creating a closer friendship and understanding between the people of Idaho and the people of Ecuador through projects designed to help the Ecuadorians develop themselves in economic, social and cultural areas. Through these programs, the Idaho Partners hope to aid in enabling the Ecuadorians to maintain a way of life which will provide for the full development of each individual.

The projects sponsored by the Idaho-Ecuador Partners are as diverse as the needs of the people. Projects have included the vaccination of all the children of Ecuador, the furnishing of supplies and equipment for hospitals, school buildings, trade schools, and water systems, high school student exchange programs, the exchange of basketball and track coaches, and with the assistance of Ballet Folk, the exchange of dance instructors. In addition, for many years, the Idaho Partners Association has annually brought Ecuadorian college students to Idaho for advanced training in the professions, especially in engineering, agriculture, and public and business administration, with the understanding that the students are to return to Ecuador to help the development of their own country.