1. How many Arrupe programs are there?

2. What is the difference between education-immersion trips, service-immersion trips, and community-immersion trips?

3. How many people get to go?

4. How much does it cost?

5. How do I sign up?

6. What is the "application process"?

7. What if I am not selected?

8. Do I need to speak another language?

9. How long are the trips?

10. What is the time commitment?

11. Are the trips safe?

12. Do I need to be Catholic to participate?

   1. How many Arrupe trip are there?

For the 2011-12 academic school year, there are 9 or 10 Arrupe “programs”: 8 or 9 with trips during winter break, and 1 with a trip during the summer.  An Arrupe “program” includes the trip as well as all of the preparation that happens before the trip, and all of the follow up that happens after the trip.

For winter 2011-12 programs, teams are selected by the end of April 2011; and for the summer trip, the team is selected by January or February 2011.  Likely winter break trip destinations: Belize, Chiapas Mexico, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Morelos Mexico, Nicaragua, Puebla Mexico.  Summer trip destination: Cuernavaca, Mexico. (Please see each program’s Program Description.)

   2. What is the difference between education-immersion trips, service-immersion trips, and community-immersion trips?

Arrupe programs offer students the opportunity to spend somewhere between one and two weeks immersed in the lives of our brothers and sisters in different parts of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.  Many of the people who we visit live their lives in economic, political, social, and religious marginalization.  We spend time accompanying them through faith-based 1) education-immersion trips (conferences/meetings with educators, politicians, and NGO representatives, families/community members; home stays, etc.), 2) service-immersion trips (work projects (such as house building and agricultural work), site visits, elderly and prison ministry, etc.), and 3) community-immersion trips (staying in one location and meeting and getting to know people involved in this specific community).  We do this to learn in different ways about the reality of people’s lives, to bear witness to their struggles and joys, and to be fully present to them in a variety of ways.   

   3. How many people get to go?

While each trip is unique in its own way, there are 14 to 16 people on each trip, including 10 to 12 Student Participants, 2 Student Leaders, and typically 2 Arrupe Mentors.

   4. How much does it cost?

The cost of each program ideally is paid for entirely through participants’ collective fundraising efforts.  We ask each student to submit a $100 initial fee as their own contribution, and to commit to raising at least $1,200 through a letter campaign and through other individual initiatives.  Additionally, students participate in the point drive and several individual community-driven initiatives.  These funds collectively cover all of the costs of the programs, including food, lodging, airfare and other modes of transportation, travel medical insurance, and in-country partner organization programming fees, as well as pre- and post-trip retreats and some administrative expenses.  If you are concerned about the cost of participating in an Arrupe program, please contact the Arrupe director to discuss your situation.  No one will be turned away from participation in an Arrupe program solely because the overall cost seems prohibitive.

   5. How do I sign up?

BC undergraduate students who are interested in participating in an Arrupe program need to attend one of a number of information sessions for each cycle of trips (i.e. the winter and summer cycles), and then apply for a program via an on-line application process connected to the Campus Ministry web-site. 

Several information sessions for winter programs are offered about nine months prior to the January trips, in March, right after spring break.  Information sessions for summer programs are offered about nine or ten months prior to the August trips, in December or January.

   6. What is the “application process”?

Applications for Arrupe programs are made available via the Campus Ministry web site during the time when information sessions are happening.  Applicants are asked to complete an application by a certain due date.  They are asked to provide basic personal information and respond to a few essay questions.  Depending on the number of applications received, applicants may or may not be invited to interview for a particular program.  We encourage anyone interested in applying to discern whether you really want to participate in an Arrupe program, given its vision and the time commitment requested.  Note: It is possible that applicants may not be considered for the programs that they identify as their top preferences.

   7. What if I am not selected?

Historically we have not always been able to accommodate all applicants.  If you are not selected for an Arrupe program, please consider applying again, if possible.  Whether or not you are selected for a program does not reflect on your value or worth as a person!  (Please see Selection Criteria.)

   8. Do I need to speak another language?

While an understanding of Spanish is useful on several of the trips, it is not necessary.  An interpreter accompanies delegations that travel to Spanish-speaking countries.

   9. How long are the trips?

Winter break trips tend to be approximately seven, eight or nine days long; summer trips tend to be close to two weeks long.

   10. What is the time commitment?
Participating in an Arrupe program is a year-long commitment.  The commitment for winter programs runs from April to April.  One can expect to dedicate an average of 5 hours per week, with the trip, the pre-trip and post-trip retreat weekends, and the point drive week adding hours.

   11. Are the trips safe?

We do everything in our power to ensure that the trips are as safe and healthy as possible for everyone involved.  We endeavor to work with individuals and organizations in each country that are well established and well respected, and we work closely with these in-country partners.  That said, we are traveling outside of the United States and there is always a safety and health risk involved with such travel.  All potential applicants – and their families – need to be aware of this risk.  We request that applicants/participants seriously consider receiving the immunizations recommended by the Center for Disease Control and by their family health care provider, and seriously consider the U.S. Department of State’s web site regarding its assessment of a particular country’s health and safety situation.

   12. Do I need to be Catholic to participate?

These programs are open to people of all faiths, traditions, and beliefs.  One does not have to be Catholic or Christian to participate.  That said, applicants need to know that these experiences are faith-based and that the framework used is greatly influenced by BC’s Jesuit Catholic tradition, heritage, and identity, and that Catholic liturgies are a part of these experiences.  Regardless of one’s faith, tradition, or beliefs, participants are expected to explore and share their own faith and life journey, in all of its joys and struggles and questions, and within a small community context.  Prayer, journaling, reflection and sharing are integral to the experience, and everyone is expected to participate and contribute, and to do so with honesty, vulnerability, appropriateness, and respect.