Immersion Experience Locations

Dates: Jan. 7-14, 2024

Cost: $1,900

*Community fundraising funds, financial aid, and full scholarship available, does not include passport or optional immunizations

Student Coordinators: TBS

Overview:

This January Campus Ministry is partnering with the Encuentro Project. The Encuentro Project offers participants a faith-based, multi-faceted immersion program in the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez border region to experience a deeper understanding of the complex migration reality and of this community. By providing education, service, activities, reflection, prayer and community, the Encuentro Project motivates participants to engage in peaceful, effective action for greater justice and compassion for migrants and refugee persons as presented in Catholic Social Teaching. The Encuentro Project hopes to provide experiences that transform the hearts and minds of participants and open new perspectives about forced migration and asylum seeking by vulnerable people. 

The program will provide a residence (single, double and multiple occupancy rooms; maximum capacity of 19) in central El Paso. During the stay, participants will be able to:

• Encounter and minister to migrant, refugee or vulnerable immigrant persons, in shelters, guest houses and/or parishes
• Visit with persons and organizations serving in the El Paso region
• Visit with persons and organizations serving the Ciudad Juarez region (optional)
• Participate in workshops on Catholic Social Teaching and migrant/border realities
• Participate in personal and group reflection and regular community evening prayer
• Live in community; longer term participants will have the independence needed to fulfill their program

Note: Though not essential, some fluency in Spanish would be beneficial.

Learn more at https://encuentroproject.org/

Dates: March 3 -9

Cost: $850

Student Coordinators: TBD

Overview:

On this Immersion, partnered with CEPA (Catholic Ethical Purchasing Alliance), students will learn from the community, The Industrial Commons, and the Carolina Textile District for a week in Morganton, North Carolina. North Carolina is a large manufacturing region, and these organizations aim to uplift workers, care for the environment, and develop sustainable, profitable businesses. In each factory students visit, the workers are paid a living wage, work in a safe environment, and are given voice and agency. In the past, JCU students have participated in factory tours, visited a cotton farm and mill, participated in TIC’s Hometown Walkabout program, sewed their own bags from recycled textiles, learned about a circular economy, and more!

Here’s a video from JCU’s time in Spring 2022! 

Dates: March 3 -9

Cost: $550

Student Coordinators: TBD

Overview: 

The Father McKenna Center offers a unique immersion opportunity for students and young people seeking to learn more about themselves and about the challenges facing some of the most vulnerable in our community. The Father McKenna Center is located on the basement level of the former St. Aloysius Church. St. Aloysius Parish ceased operations in 2012, but The Father McKenna Center continues to carry on the work of serving men experiencing homelessness and very low-income families in the neighborhoods surrounding the U.S. Capitol. Your experience will offer you the opportunity to serve meals, converse with and share meals with the men we serve. We are committed to making this an educational experience as well as a service opportunity.

What Will You Learn? 1. By connecting with our guests and patrons, you will learn about some of the challenges that those experiencing homelessness and poverty face. Many of our visitors have faced one or more of the following issues: addiction, mental illness, incarceration, or chronic unemployment. 2. You will learn that homelessness is not a condition, but a phase of life. For some it is a transient time, while for others homelessness can be nearly a permanent phase of life. 3. You will learn that anyone can experience homelessness. Experiencing homelessness or not, all deserve dignity and respect. 4. You will learn that you can make a difference in someone’s life by showing concern and interest, as much as through a handout of food, money or other tangible goods.

How Will You Learn? You and your peers will have plenty of opportunity to get to know the men we serve, and to join them for the daily group meeting that precedes our lunch meal. During that session, you may be asked to “interview” one of our guests and then introduce him to the group, and vice versa. You should also take the opportunity to learn from other local agencies that serve the homeless (the Coalition of Housing and Homeless Organizations [COHHO], the DC Fiscal Policy Institute or the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless). You might also meet with your local representative or a senator (or their senior staffers) to discuss what you have experienced and why you believe the government has a role to play in addressing the underlying issues that cause and exacerbate homelessness. You will also have an opportunity to learn from Cortez McDaniel, FMC’s Director of Services. You will have the opportunity to meet with him one-on-one, sit in on one of his meetings, and debrief about your experience with him. Having experienced homelessness himself, his wisdom is well worth getting to understand.

Your experience at the Father McKenna Center offers you an opportunity to serve, to learn and to listen. Your experience will change your heart and may change your life.

Dates: TBD but likely May 21st - May 30th

Cost: $2,500

Student Coordinators: TBD

Data Assistant: TBD

Overview: Honduras is a beautiful and mountainous Central American country with lush greenery. Once part of Spain’s vast empire in the New World, Honduras became an independent nation in 1821. After two and a half decades of mostly military rule, a freely-elected civilian government came to power in 1982. Honduras is one of the 10 poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere with GDP per capita at U.S. $4,200 per year (2010). The economy has continued to grow slowly but the distribution of wealth remains very polarized with average wages remaining low. 65% of the population lives below the poverty line. It is estimated that there are more than 1.2 million people who are unemployed, the rate of unemployment standing at 27.9%. 

Our work for the week will be to offer medical services to those who are very poor. Ideally, participants will be students preparing to enter the medical field or public health and alumni doctors and nurses. Medical professionals from the Cleveland community are also invited to provide care to the people of Honduras and act as mentors to our pre-health students. We expect to participate in a number of medical brigades where simple diagnoses are made and medicines are distributed. We will also work on public health mapping projects by identifying the locations of various transportation patterns, water supplies, clinics, and diseases. By understanding the relationships between geography and the local people, we can better serve the people of rural Honduras both in the present and future Immersions.

In addition, we will be visiting some of the other ministries of Sociedad such as Flor Azul, a farm for boys that allows them to live productive lives and learn valuable skills. As we visit them and other people of Honduras it is important to convey that we are there to serve them and that we care about them. This is the most important service we will offer in Honduras.

Community Partner: Sociedad Amigos de los Niños was founded in 1966 by Sister Maria Rosa Leggol of the School Sisters of Saint Francis. The Mission of Sociedad Amigos de los Niños (SAN) is to provide a nurturing environment for the neglected and impoverished children of Honduras. Sociedad provides shelter, health care, education, training, and the opportunity to live in dignity to children and families ravaged by extreme poverty. SAN addresses their basic needs and at the same time creates the opportunities for each child and young person to acquire the necessary skills to enjoy a productive and meaningful life. From her own experience as an orphan, Sister Maria Rosa has always been concerned with the needs of the poor and has rescued and educated more than 35,000 children who today are productive citizens of Honduras. Perhaps the biggest project of Sociedad, and our host for the week, is the Nuevo Paraiso Community which is a small village about two hours from Tegucigalpa. This tiny village of 60 homes is a safe haven for those who are victims of extreme poverty and neglect. It is here that Sociedad Amigos de Los Niños helps them build their dreams one step at a time. Nuevo Paraiso offers a kindergarten for 60 children, an elementary school for 230, and a high school for 350 students. The Santa Rosa de Lima Medical Clinic attends 40,000 patients per year. In addition, there is a training center, soccer field, Cielos de Honduras brick factory, a plantain chip factory, and the beginnings of other micro-businesses.

Accommodations: In Nuevo Paraiso, participants will be staying in modest, but comfortable, accommodations which are designated for volunteers. Beds, linens, and pillows are provided as well as laundry service. Shared bathrooms and showers are available.

Honduran cooks will prepare three meals a day in Nuevo Paraiso. Hondurans demonstrate their affection for others through their cooking, andthey would appreciate hearing that you enjoyed your meal. We will also have the opportunity to dine in a Honduran restaurant during the trip and experience other aspects of the Honduran culture.

Additional Honduras resources

Click here for Honduras Student Coordinator Description & Expectations. 

Click here for Data Assistant Description. 

Dates: May 20th - May 26th

Cost: $700

Student Coordinators: TBD

Overview: 

Appalachia is a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from southern New York to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. Living among the beautiful Appalachian Mountains are approximately 25 million people who share a similar history and culture. People work as miners, mill hands, mountaineers, farmers, artisans and musicians, educators, machinists, and entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, the people have often been stereotyped as uneducated and isolated.

Although Appalachia has abundant natural resources, such as coal and timber, the people of Appalachia have always struggled with poverty and have not enjoyed long-term benefits from these industries which were developed during the industrial revolution. In recent years, Appalachia has diversified its industries and has largely joined the economy of the rest of the country, but it still lags behind in most economic indicators. The region also still struggles with access to health care and quality education.

Two landmark Catholic pastoral letters, This Land is Home to Me: A Pastoral Letter On Powerlessness and At Home in the Web of Life: A Pastoral Message on Sustainable Community, give a moving and poetic description of the beauty of the region and its exploitation for energy resources. Billions of dollars worth of coal have been removed from the area, largely by people who do not live on the land, resulting in the impoverishment of the Appalachian people and environmental damage.

The ACW Farm has a variety of community partners that Immersion participants may serve. Though the service site will be determined upon arrival, participants can expect to participate in a variety of service projects that may include community outreach, physical service and farm work, and education about the local area.

Partner Organization: Our community partner for this immersion is the Appalachian Catholic Worker Farm outside Spencer, West Virginia, just north of Charleston. ACW describes the experience they offer students as being one-third service, one-third education, and one-third reflection. Learn more details on the ACW website.

Accommodations: Participants will stay in rustic, communal housing on the grounds of the ACW farm. Meals will be simple and nourishing.

Additional Appalachia resources

Dates: May 20th - May 25th 

Cost: $1000

Student Coordinators: TBD

Overview: 

Our partner for this immersion, the Br. David Darst Center in Chicago, serves as an experiential learning space to build community, work with local partner agencies, dig into reflection on injustices and their root causes, and create action plans to address those injustices. Community comes through shared time cooking and cleaning meals, storytelling, and practicing values of hospitality, inclusion, and stewardship as a group. Through partnerships with local agencies, retreat participants are able to get to know people in Chicago directly impacted by injustices, challenge societal stereotypes, and break down barriers that continue to perpetuate inequity and indifference. The Darst Center focus on the intertwined nature of injustices in our programming by highlighting the systems of homelessness, food insecurity, incarceration, education, and immigration. Through various activities and group dialog, we reflect on the underlying causes of what we see at partner agencies, and we discern our own responsibility and action plans going forward.

This immersion will include visits to partner agencies, reflection activities, communal meals, and recreational time. Groups reside at the Darst Center in shared rooms, and we travel through the city via vans or buses provided by the group or via public transportation.

The Darst Center is here to create a unique experience for the immersion participants. With some flexibility and creativity, they work to ensure the retreat programming will impact the students and support their growth in nurturing a personal passion for social change. This immersion focuses on five 'burning issues' of injustice: homelessness, food insecurity, education, immigration, and incarceration. The Darst Center structures immersions in three main ways: 1) visits to our partner agencies, including both direct service options and experiential learning opportunities; 2) educational sessions and reflections designed to go deeper and extend the work and observations from partner agencies; 3) communal practices of shared meals, recreational time, and upkeep of our shared space.

The Darst Center works with both religious and secular schools and groups to shape immersion experiences that speak to the specific context and needs of the participants. Depending on the group's background, age range, and religious context, they offer a number of components for Immersion Retreats: videos and articles on our five burning issues, daily communal prayers, reflection activities and small group sharing, and opportunities to attend local events in Chicago related to current justice campaigns and efforts.

As the Darst Center wraps up a retreat with a group, they work to craft an action plan or accountability plan for participants to continue bringing what they have learned into their lives at home, school, faith community, and beyond. For schools within a shorter driving distance of Chicago, they are able to offer post-retreat workshops on campus for students to enrich their leadership skills to create social change at home.

Dates: May 23-31, 2020

Cost: $2,000 (does not include passport or optional immunizations) 

Student Coordinators: Emily Schroeder & Morgan Hatlovic

Data Coordinator: Henry Metzger

Overview: Honduras is a beautiful and mountainous Central American country with lush greenery. Once part of Spain’s vast empire in the New World, Honduras became an independent nation in 1821. After two and a half decades of mostly military rule, a freely-elected civilian government came to power in 1982. Honduras is one of the 10 poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere with GDP per capita at U.S. $4,200 per year (2010). The economy has continued to grow slowly but the distribution of wealth remains very polarized with average wages remaining low. 65% of the population lives below the poverty line. It is estimated that there are more than 1.2 million people who are unemployed, the rate of unemployment standing at 27.9%. 

Our work for the week will be to offer medical services to those who are very poor. Ideally, participants will be students preparing to enter the medical field or public health and alumni doctors and nurses. Medical professionals from the Cleveland community are also invited to provide care to the people of Honduras and act as mentors to our pre-health students. We expect to participate in a number of medical brigades where simple diagnoses are made and medicines are distributed. We will also work on public health mapping projects by identifying the locations of various transportation patterns, water supplies, clinics, and diseases. By understanding the relationships between geography and the local people, we can better serve the people of rural Honduras both in the present and future Immersions.

In addition, we will be visiting some of the other ministries of Sociedad such as Flor Azul, a farm for boys that allows them to live productive lives and learn valuable skills. As we visit them and other people of Honduras it is important to convey that we are there to serve them and that we care about them. This is the most important service we will offer in Honduras.

Community Partner: Sociedad Amigos de los Niños was founded in 1966 by Sister Maria Rosa Leggol of the School Sisters of Saint Francis. The Mission of Sociedad Amigos de los Niños (SAN) is to provide a nurturing environment for the neglected and impoverished children of Honduras. Sociedad provides shelter, health care, education, training, and the opportunity to live in dignity to children and families ravaged by extreme poverty. SAN addresses their basic needs and at the same time creates the opportunities for each child and young person to acquire the necessary skills to enjoy a productive and meaningful life. From her own experience as an orphan, Sister Maria Rosa has always been concerned with the needs of the poor and has rescued and educated more than 35,000 children who today are productive citizens of Honduras. Perhaps the biggest project of Sociedad, and our host for the week, is the Nuevo Paraiso Community which is a small village about two hours from Tegucigalpa. This tiny village of 60 homes is a safe haven for those who are victims of extreme poverty and neglect. It is here that Sociedad Amigos de Los Niños helps them build their dreams one step at a time. Nuevo Paraiso offers a kindergarten for 60 children, an elementary school for 230, and a high school for 350 students. The Santa Rosa de Lima Medical Clinic attends 40,000 patients per year. In addition, there is a training center, soccer field, Cielos de Honduras brick factory, a plantain chip factory, and the beginnings of other micro-businesses.

Accommodations: In Nuevo Paraiso, participants will be staying in modest, but comfortable, accommodations which are designated for volunteers. Beds, linens, and pillows are provided as well as laundry service. Shared bathrooms and showers are available.

Honduran cooks will prepare three meals a day in Nuevo Paraiso. Hondurans demonstrate their affection for others through their cooking, andthey would appreciate hearing that you enjoyed your meal. We will also have the opportunity to dine in a Honduran restaurant during the trip and experience other aspects of the Honduran culture.

Additional Honduras resources

Dates: May 21-30, 2020

Cost: $2,000

Student Coordinators: Sophie Rodgers & Megan Sutterluety

Overview: 

This is a new immersion to the Dominican Republic. Our focus will be on ethical trade. Students will meet with experts on the topics of fair trade and the living wage, globally and in the DR. We will visit the Alta Gracia apparel factory - currently the only producer of a certified living wage t-shirt in the developing world. Alta Gracia ensures the people making your clothes can provide their families with all of life’s necessities – good nutrition, decent housing, medical care, the cost of education for themselves and their children. This model will be compared to sweatshop conditions of other apparel factories in the area. 

The group will also examine the plight of migrant workers - many in sugarcane and plaintain farms - and the politics, economy, and labor issues between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. 

Partner Organization: 

We are excited to partnering with the Caribbean Social Immersion Program. Their programs are hosted by Centro Montalvo, a social and educational center of the Society of Jesus in the Dominican Republic.

Centro Montalvo is dedicated to implementing programs of accompaniment and social training, as well as research, communication and advocacy.

They work closely with Jesuit organizations in the Caribbean and South America.

Accommodations: 

Students will be staying in Jesuit retreat facilities and residences. Accommodations will be simple, yet comfortable. 

More information is coming soon! 

Dates: February 29 - March 7, 2020

Cost: $550

Student Coordinators: Caroline Maltese & Zeljana Opacak

Overview: 

Appalachia is a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from southern New York to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. Living among the beautiful Appalachian Mountains are approximately 25 million people who share a similar history and culture. People work as miners, mill hands, mountaineers, farmers, artisans and musicians, educators, machinists, and entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, the people have often been stereotyped as uneducated and isolated.

Although Appalachia has abundant natural resources, such as coal and timber, the people of Appalachia have always struggled with poverty and have not enjoyed long-term benefits from these industries which were developed during the industrial revolution. In recent years, Appalachia has diversified its industries and has largely joined the economy of the rest of the country, but it still lags behind in most economic indicators. The region also still struggles with access to health care and quality education.

Two landmark Catholic pastoral letters, This Land is Home to Me: A Pastoral Letter On Powerlessness and At Home in the Web of Life: A Pastoral Message on Sustainable Community, give a moving and poetic description of the beauty of the region and its exploitation for energy resources. Billions of dollars worth of coal have been removed from the area, largely by people who do not live on the land, resulting in the impoverishment of the Appalachian people and environmental damage.

The ACW Farm has a variety of community partners that Immersion participants may serve. Though the service site will be determined upon arrival, participants can expect to participate in a variety of service projects that may include community outreach, physical service and farm work, and education about the local area.

Partner Organization: Our community partner for this immersion is the Appalachian Catholic Worker Farm outside Spencer, West Virginia, just north of Charleston. ACW describes the experience they offer students as being one-third service, one-third education, and one-third reflection. Learn more details on the ACW website.

Accommodations: Participants will stay in rustic, communal housing on the grounds of the ACW farm. Meals will be simple and nourishing.

Additional Appalachia resources

Dates: February 29 - March 7, 2020

Cost: $550

Student Coordinators: Anthony Sicurezza & Tomi Korsa

Overview: 

Since 1975 more than 10,000 refugees from 30 different countries have settled in Louisville, Kentucky, with the assistance of the Diocese of Louisville Office of Migration and Refugee Services.

The experience provides opportunities for each participant to develop a greater understanding of the challenges and realities that people seeking refuge in the United States face each day. The group will literally explore the path that a refugee or immigrant takes when they arrive in Louisville.

This will include opportunities to visit and volunteer at social service centers that work directly with refugees and immigrants. The group will also have an opportunity to visit the Abbey of the Gethsemani, former home of Thomas Merton, to spend a day in contemplative reflection regarding their experience.

Community Partner: CrossRoads Ministry is an inner-city retreat center that engages young people in peacemaking through urban retreat experiences, outreach to the margins, prayer, service, and a bridging of communities for justice. Now in its 16th year of operation, CrossRoads has touched the lives of more than 15,000 youth through a variety of retreat options. CrossRoads is a Christian organization in a Catholic tradition.

Accommodations: Accommodations at CrossRoads are comfortable but simple. Most people sleep in same-sex shared rooms with separate communal bathrooms. Meals are simple but plentiful.

Additional Louisville resources

Dates: February 29 - March 7, 2020

Cost: $500

Student Coordinators: Maya Williams & Emma Posler

Overview: 

Come visit the Cleveland you’ve never seen before. Everyday there are people struggling to find housing, put food on their table, and survive in the Greater Cleveland Area. 365 days a year, the homeless shelters are full to capacity. Around 40% of the population live below the poverty line in our community and there are 241,400 people who are suffering from food insecurity. There is an estimated 21,000 people who experience homelessness over the course of a year in our community. 103 of these individuals died in 2016.

Community Partner:

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) is a Cleveland-based organization that seeks to organize and empower homeless and at-risk men, women, and children, to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty through public education, advocacy, and the creation of nurturing environments. They do this in partnership with the homeless, through the publication of a street newspaper, staffing for service and outreach collaborations, coordination of the Homeless Congress, improving and expanding access to services, sponsorship of the Homeless Candlelight Vigil, protecting the right to vote by homeless people, publication of various Street Cards, and construction of a host of educational and advocacy activities.

This Immersion seeks to put a human face on statistics. Over the course of the week, participants will have the opportunity to visit local organizations to understand the interconnecting issues around poverty and homelessness. The group will volunteer at local service providers but also sit down and eat at a soup kitchen in order to better understand another’s reality. Participants will build relationships with people who are experiencing homelessness and understand the deeply human and systemic reasons why people struggle with housing. The Immersion group will rely exclusively on public transportation during the course of the week.

Accommodations:

Simple floor space provided for sleeping bags. Simple meals provided. Some meals will be at meal sites in the community.

Dates: February 29 - March 7, 2020

Cost: $1,500

Student Coordinators: Ally Fritsch & Cynthia Cole-Heiss

Overview: 

The border between the United States and Mexico stretches almost 2,000 miles, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. In some places, the border is only marked by a sign or a fence. In other places, the border is reinforced with barbed wire or tall steel barriers.

All the border fortification is intended to reduce undocumented immigration to the United States from Mexico. Many immigrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border without documentation flee extreme poverty in Mexico, Central, and South America. Every year, thousands of people travel across the difficult terrain of the borderlands in search of a new life. Many make it but live in the shadows, working menial jobs to earn money to send back home, many get detained and deported, and sadly, there are many others who die in the desert. This region can be so politicized by the news, so this Immersion experience is an attempt to find the human faces of the immigration crisis.

KBI Immersion experiences offer participants an opportunity to spend time with migrants and learn from their stories, as well as to understand the broader context of the border and immigration. Every trip includes time in the comedor (soup kitchen) where participants serve food and have the chance to speak with recently deported migrants. Trips often include a visit to the women’s shelter, a walk in the desert, an opportunity to participate in Mass with and converse with ranchers in a rural town in southern Arizona, and a visit to criminal prosecution of immigrants in Tucson. The Immersion is intended to humanize the immigration issue and to recognize its complexity, while emphasizing accompaniment of people on their journey. Over the course of the week, there are spaces for reflection on the experiences and times to plan follow-up activities upon return.

Partner Organization:

The Kino Border Initiative (KBI) is a bi-national organization that works in the area of migration and is located in Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. The KBI was inaugurated in January of 2009 by six organizations from the United States and Mexico: The California Province of the Society of Jesus, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, the Missionary Sisters of the Eucharist, the Mexican Province of the Society of Jesus, the Diocese of Tucson and the Diocese of Nogales. The KBI’s vision is to help make humane, just, workable migration between the U.S. and Mexico a reality. Its mission is to promote US/Mexico border and immigration policies that affirm the dignity of the human person and a spirit of bi-national solidarity through:

• Direct humanitarian assistance and accompaniment with migrants;
• Social and pastoral education with communities on both sides of the border;
• Participation in collaborative networks that engage in research and advocacy to transform local, regional, and national immigration policies.

Accommodations:  Students will stay in housing provided by KBI. Meals and accommodations will be simple, yet adequate. 

Additional immigration resources

Dates: January 11-13, 2021

Cost: $25

Overview:

Do you love Fr. Greg Boyle and his book Tattoos on the Heart? If so this Immersion is the perfect 4-day experience to help you dive deeper into the life, work, and community of Boyle Heights, home of Dolores Mission Church in Los Angeles.

Dolores Mission addresses social injustices within the Boyle Heights community, a largely Latino community comprised of immigrant families. The community and its partners continue to navigate gang violence and homelessness on a daily basis. This Immersion is Jan. 10-13, 2021 and includes an opening Mass and three 2-hour sessions. Learn more about Dolores Mission.

Course Credit:

We will offer an optional 1-credit course (pass/fail) in the Spring semester for those wanting course credit.

Application:

Applications are due by Sun., Oct. 18, 2020 at 11:59pm. APPLY NOW!

Dates: January 11-15, 2021

Cost: $25

Overview:

The El Salvador Virtual Immersion will feature a 1.5-hour session in the morning and one in the afternoon for five days. Together we'll explore El Salvador's history of the Civil War, politics, migration, and daily life. Come journey with us on Jan. 11-15, 2021 and build friendships with those in El Salvador! In collaboration with Crispaz.

Course Credit:

We will offer an optional 1-credit course (pass/fail) in the Spring semester for those wanting course credit.

Application:

Applications are due by Sun., Oct. 18, 2020 at 11:59pm. APPLY NOW!

Dates: January 8-15, 2022 

Cost: $2,000 (does not include passport or optional immunizations)

Student Coordinators: Bridget Jochum, Jack Burton

Overview:

El Salvador Immersion is a faith-based delegation experience where participants learn from the Salvadoran people about their lives, histories, and hopes for the future. A major focus of the encounter is to reflect on the meaning of working for justice rather than working for charity; understanding one’s role as a global citizen; and humanizing the different issues that are present in our societies. Participants learn directly from the Salvadorans about issues such as the impact of war, neo-liberal economics, U.S. foreign policy, migration, mining, the environment, and a tradition of liberating faith.

Activities:

This Immersion will include: visits to martyr sites, grassroots organizations, and a rural community, as well as speakers on history, politics, economics, and more importantly current issues as well as time for shopping for Fair Trade crafts and cultural activities. 

We give special emphasis to the voice and experience of the poor and marginalized of El Salvador. Taking our inspiration from Monsignor Romero, we want to give voice to the voiceless. We encourage you to address with your group your level of interest in meeting with people who also represent more powerful groups and other sectors of society.

It is our desire to provide for your group the opportunity to learn from various political, social, economic and religious sectors according to the interests of the participants.

Accommodations: 

The group will stay in simple accommodations. Group members may need to sleep in sleeping bags on the floor but will have adequate usage of showers and toilets. Meals will be basic but sufficient, and there will be opportunities to try cultural cuisine.

Dates: January 8-15, 2022 

Cost: $1,800 (does not include passport or optional immunizations) 

Student Coordinators: Sean Butler, Caitlin Drake

Overview: 

Each group is committed to learning about the policies and circumstances that have affected thousands of lives across the border. Delegations are typically pre-existing groups from universities, schools, civic associations, etc.

Activities: 

• Walk migrant trails in the desert

• Witness migration-related court proceedings

• Visit migrant shelters and immigration detention centers

• Meet with community members, activists, and academics throughout Tucson and the surrounding borderlands

• Travel to Mexico or stay on the US side of the border to explore the Arizona context more deeply.

• Listen to many different voices and hear the stories of people who are impacted by border and immigration policies in a variety of ways.

Accommodations:

Delegates stay in our dorm, located in our building just south of Tucson's downtown business and entertainment district. Delegates will enjoy lunches and dinners prepared daily by BorderLinks staff, who can meet any dietary needs. Delegates make their own breakfasts in our kitchen, using food provided by BorderLinks. We maintain a vegetarian kitchen. 

Dates: Sat. March 5 through Friday March 11 

Cost: $1,200

Student Coordinators: TBD

Overview: 

The border between the United States and Mexico stretches almost 2,000 miles, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. In some places, the border is only marked by a sign or a fence. In other places, the border is reinforced with barbed wire or tall steel barriers.

All the border fortification is intended to reduce undocumented immigration to the United States from Mexico. Many immigrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border without documentation flee extreme poverty in Mexico, Central, and South America. Every year, thousands of people travel across the difficult terrain of the borderlands in search of a new life. Many make it but live in the shadows, working menial jobs to earn money to send back home, many get detained and deported, and sadly, there are many others who die in the desert. This region can be so politicized by the news, so this Immersion experience is an attempt to find the human faces of the immigration crisis.

KBI Immersion experiences offer participants an opportunity to spend time with migrants and learn from their stories, as well as to understand the broader context of the border and immigration. Every trip includes time in the comedor (soup kitchen) where participants serve food and have the chance to speak with recently deported migrants. Trips often include a visit to the women’s shelter, a walk in the desert, an opportunity to participate in Mass with and converse with ranchers in a rural town in southern Arizona, and a visit to criminal prosecution of immigrants in Tucson. The Immersion is intended to humanize the immigration issue and to recognize its complexity, while emphasizing accompaniment of people on their journey. Over the course of the week, there are spaces for reflection on the experiences and times to plan follow-up activities upon return.

Partner Organization:

The Kino Border Initiative (KBI) is a bi-national organization that works in the area of migration and is located in Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. The KBI was inaugurated in January of 2009 by six organizations from the United States and Mexico: The California Province of the Society of Jesus, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, the Missionary Sisters of the Eucharist, the Mexican Province of the Society of Jesus, the Diocese of Tucson and the Diocese of Nogales. The KBI’s vision is to help make humane, just, workable migration between the U.S. and Mexico a reality. Its mission is to promote US/Mexico border and immigration policies that affirm the dignity of the human person and a spirit of bi-national solidarity through:

• Direct humanitarian assistance and accompaniment with migrants;
• Social and pastoral education with communities on both sides of the border;
• Participation in collaborative networks that engage in research and advocacy to transform local, regional, and national immigration policies.

Accommodations:  Students will stay in housing provided by KBI. Meals and accommodations will be simple, yet adequate. 

Additional immigration resources

Dates: March 5 - March 11, 2022

Cost: $600

Student Coordinators: TBD

Overview:

Come learn about and participate in a growing youth movement around ethical purchasing - both on your campus and as individuals - that lifts up the dignity of the worker and cares for the creation of the objects we consume. COLLECTION is an ethical and sustainable brand built on a re-emergence of the textile industry through circular and local supply chains in North Carolina. Visiting our ecosystem, students will learn how workers in this unique supply chain are building voice, agency and equity for themselves and the next generation of young leaders and makers in the rural South. COLLECTION is an enterprise of The Industrial Commons (TIC), which works to rebuild a diverse working class based on locally rooted wealth. The Industrial Commons is partially funded by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development’s National Strategic Grant.

Dates: May 24 - June 4, 2022 

Cost: $1,800 (does not include passport or optional immunizations) 

Student Coordinators: TBD

Data Coordinator: TBD

Honduras Public Health Immersion Overview:

Honduras is a beautiful and mountainous Central American country with lush greenery and fertile valleys. Once part of Spain’s vast empire in the New World, Honduras became an independent nation in 1821. After experiencing political and economic instability throughout the 1950s-1970s, a freely elected civilian government came to power in 1982. Even prior to COVID-19, the country was among the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, with over 50% of its population living on less than $1.90 per day. On top of a pandemic, the country was devastated by two hurricanes, Eta and Iota, in November 2020. These factors contributed to an estimated 8% decrease in the country’s GDP and the destruction of its infrastructure. Our goal for the week is to improve public health outcomes in a number of rural, impoverished villages. Medical care is only one part of this mission. In addition, we focus on clean water initiatives, such as testing water for contaminants, providing water filters to communities, training community leaders and residents on troubleshooting the filters. To understand a community’s public health needs, we conduct surveys, map out the community, and build relationships with community leaders. Basically, we are doing our best to inform our work with as much information as possible. It is through this broad lens of public health that we can better serve the people of rural Honduras both in the present and future immersions. While this immersion is of particular interest for students preparing to enter the medical or public health fields, the diverse nature of our work appeals to students interested in data, politics, human rights, sociology, economics, and more. In addition, we will visit with some of the other ministries of Sociedad, such as the orphanage at Nuevo Paraiso. As we visit them and others in Honduras it is important to convey that we are there to serve them and that we care about them. This is the most important service we will offer in Honduras.

Community Partner: Sociedad Amigos de los Niños was founded in 1966 by Sister Maria Rosa Leggol of the School Sisters of Saint Francis. The Mission of Sociedad Amigos de los Niños (SAN) is to provide a nurturing environment for the neglected and impoverished children of Honduras. Sociedad provides shelter, health care, education, training, and the opportunity to live in dignity to children and families ravaged by extreme poverty. SAN addresses their basic needs and at the same time creates the opportunities for each child and young person to acquire the necessary skills to enjoy a productive and meaningful life. From her own experience as an orphan, Sister Maria Rosa has always been concerned with the needs of the poor and has rescued and educated more than 35,000 children who today are productive citizens of Honduras. Perhaps the biggest project of Sociedad, and our host for the week, is the Nuevo Paraiso Community which is a small village about two hours from Tegucigalpa. This tiny village of 60 homes is a safe haven for those who are victims of extreme poverty and neglect. It is here that Sociedad Amigos de Los Niños helps them build their dreams one step at a time. Nuevo Paraiso offers a kindergarten for 60 children, an elementary school for 230, and a high school for 350 students. The Santa Rosa de Lima Medical Clinic attends 40,000 patients per year. In addition, there is a training center, soccer field, Cielos de Honduras brick factory, a plantain chip factory, and the beginnings of other micro-businesses.

Accommodations: In Nuevo Paraiso, participants will be staying in modest, but comfortable, accommodations which are designated for volunteers. Beds, linens, and pillows are provided as well as laundry service. Shared bathrooms and showers are available.

Honduran cooks will prepare three meals a day in Nuevo Paraiso. Hondurans demonstrate their affection for others through their cooking, andthey would appreciate hearing that you enjoyed your meal. We will also have the opportunity to dine in a Honduran restaurant during the trip and experience other aspects of the Honduran culture.

Additional Honduras resources

Dates: May 23-29

Cost: $400

Student Coordinators: TBD

Overview: 

Appalachia is a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from southern New York to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. Living among the beautiful Appalachian Mountains are approximately 25 million people who share a similar history and culture. People work as miners, mill hands, mountaineers, farmers, artisans and musicians, educators, machinists, and entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, the people have often been stereotyped as uneducated and isolated.

Although Appalachia has abundant natural resources, such as coal and timber, the people of Appalachia have always struggled with poverty and have not enjoyed long-term benefits from these industries which were developed during the industrial revolution. In recent years, Appalachia has diversified its industries and has largely joined the economy of the rest of the country, but it still lags behind in most economic indicators. The region also still struggles with access to health care and quality education.

Two landmark Catholic pastoral letters, This Land is Home to Me: A Pastoral Letter On Powerlessness and At Home in the Web of Life: A Pastoral Message on Sustainable Community, give a moving and poetic description of the beauty of the region and its exploitation for energy resources. Billions of dollars worth of coal have been removed from the area, largely by people who do not live on the land, resulting in the impoverishment of the Appalachian people and environmental damage.

The ACW Farm has a variety of community partners that Immersion participants may serve. Though the service site will be determined upon arrival, participants can expect to participate in a variety of service projects that may include community outreach, physical service and farm work, and education about the local area.

Partner Organization: Our community partner for this immersion is the Appalachian Catholic Worker Farm outside Spencer, West Virginia, just north of Charleston. ACW describes the experience they offer students as being one-third service, one-third education, and one-third reflection. Learn more details on the ACW website.

Accommodations: Participants will stay in rustic, communal housing on the grounds of the ACW farm. Meals will be simple and nourishing.

Additional Appalachia resources

Dates: May 22 - June 4 2022

Cost: $2,500

Student Coordinators: TBD

Overview: Camino Ignaciano--"The Ignatian Way"--recreates the route that Ignatius of Loyola, being a knight, ran in 1522 from Loyola to Manresa. This immersion offers the opportunity to experience a pilgrimage, following the spiritual process that made Ignacio. The road begins at the birthplace of Azpeitia (Guipúzcoa) and ends in the Cave of St. Ignatius in Manresa.

Dates: May 23-29

Cost: $1200

Student Coordinators: TBD

Overview:

Do you love Fr. Greg Boyle and his book Tattoos on the Heart? If so this Immersion is the perfect experience to help you dive deeper into the life, work, and community of Boyle Heights, home of Dolores Mission Church in Los Angeles.

Dolores Mission addresses social injustices within the Boyle Heights community, a largely Latino community comprised of immigrant families. The community and its partners continue to navigate gang violence and homelessness on a daily basis. Learn more about Dolores Mission.

Dates: 9 nights / 10 days.  Jan. 6-15 

Cost: $2,000 (does not include passport or optional immunizations)

Student Coordinators: Maria Coughlin & Erin Kipp

Overview:

El Salvador Immersion is a faith-based delegation experience where participants learn from the Salvadoran people about their lives, histories, and hopes for the future. A major focus of the encounter is to reflect on the meaning of working for justice rather than working for charity; understanding one’s role as a global citizen; and humanizing the different issues that are present in our societies. Participants learn directly from the Salvadorans about issues such as the impact of war, neo-liberal economics, U.S. foreign policy, migration, mining, the environment, and a tradition of liberating faith.

Activities:

This Immersion will include: visits to martyr sites, grassroots organizations, and a rural community, as well as speakers on history, politics, economics, and more importantly current issues as well as time for shopping for Fair Trade crafts and cultural activities. 

We give special emphasis to the voice and experience of the poor and marginalized of El Salvador. Taking our inspiration from Monsignor Romero, we want to give voice to the voiceless. We encourage you to address with your group your level of interest in meeting with people who also represent more powerful groups and other sectors of society.

It is our desire to provide for your group the opportunity to learn from various political, social, economic and religious sectors according to the interests of the participants.

Accommodations: 

The group will stay in simple accommodations. Group members may need to sleep in sleeping bags on the floor but will have adequate usage of showers and toilets. Meals will be basic but sufficient, and there will be opportunities to try cultural cuisine.

Click here to learn more about our program and partner

Dates: 6 nights/7 days.  Jan. 9-15, 2023

Cost: $1750 (does not include passport or optional immunizations)

Student Coordinators: Vince Rizzo & Piper Foellmer

Overview:

Cuernavaca:  Known as the “City of Eternal Springtime” and the birthplace of revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata, Cuernavaca is located two hours south of Mexico City in the state of Morelos.  CGEE’s study center is located near the city’s historic center, with a 16th century Cathedral and Hernan Cortés’ Palace.  The study center has dormitory style rooms, a dining room, a library, and classroom space.  When it opened in 1982, Cuernavaca was a focal point for the liberation theology movement under the late Bishop Sergio Mendez Arceo.  Since the establishment of industrial parks just to the south of Cuernavaca, the city has become a destination for poor farmers from neighboring states who seek factory work because they can no longer live off their land.  At the same time, affluent Mexicans from Mexico City own vacation homes in Cuernavaca. As a result of rapid industrialization and unplanned growth, the natural environment has deteriorated and one witnesses the extremes of abject poverty and great wealth side by side in Cuernavaca.     Amatlán de Quetzalcóatl:  Amatlán is a rural Nahua indigenous town in the state of Morelos about an hour outside of Cuernavaca that has organized to try to defend its cultural inheritance and indigenous spiritual legacy from outside exploitation.  It is a good option for a day excursion or for several days of homestays with local families. Participants can hike (30-45 minutes) to an ancient sacred site and learn about Nahua indigenous spirituality and cosmovision. Participants can experience an indigenous sweat lodge (temescal).  Residents share about the history of communal land and current struggles to defend it, as well as about the racism that the community has faced.  Others share about their experience as immigrants, working in the U.S. or being deported.

Click here to learn more about our program and partner