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Trip Destination: Puebla, Mexico, in southern Mexico. Trip Dates: Approximately 7, 8 or 9 days toward the end of winter break 2009-10. Coordinating Organizations: Boston College Campus Ministry, in collaboration with Community Links International (www.commlinks.org). |
Community Links International Mission: Community Links is a service-learning, volunteer, and international educational organization. Through cross-border, cross-cultural immersion experiences we provide people of all ages and backgrounds the chance to learn about the interconnectedness of our local, national, and global realities. We also teach participants to recognize how our lifestyles, values, choices and consumption patterns affect people, cultures and the environment the world over…
One of our main goals is to connect the local with the global. By local we mean that reality which deals with immediate personal relationships, truly representative and inclusive political participation and community value systems. We strive to create economic, political and social systems that nurture local communities and individuals. Specifically, our programs are aimed at strengthening local developmental processes, micro-entrepreneurial efforts and ecological recovery. We continuously explore our worlds and analyze our assumptions through experimental learning, and we constantly re-evaluate our efforts and results so as to adjust strategically for the future. In this way, we create a solid base from which to deal with the larger global issues.
Itinerary: Program participants will travel to Puebla, in southern Mexico, where they participate in a Community Links International-hosted immersion experience. While in Puebla and the surrounding areas, participants spend time each day working with and for the poor of the local community. Much of the service done is agricultural. There are also opportunities in the afternoons to work with local children in an after school program. Participants hear from various individuals involved in community-based programs and initiatives to learn about the issues facing the local community and engage in discussions on the economic, political, social, and religious dynamics that continue to affect Mexico, and specifically the Puebla region and its people. Participants also have the opportunity to visit la Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla (the Local Jesuit University) to explore how the Jesuit mission is being actualized locally.
During the trip, participants must expect to live simply. They likely will eat food that is not always familiar or plentiful, sleep in beds or other places that are often less comfortable than they might be accustomed to, bathe rarely, and experience limited personal space.
Prayer, reflection, journaling, and sharing with each other are core aspects of this experience before, during, and after the trip. Each participant is expected to share about her/his faith, in all of its joys and struggles, and to explore how faith, and the gifts they have been given, connect to living in solidarity with the Poor.
Language Proficiency Required: Although being able to speak Spanish is useful while on the trip, applicants do not need to be able to speak any language other than English to participate.
Safety: Boston College Campus Ministry seriously considers the U.S. Department of State’s published statements regarding public safety in a potential host country. For travel-related information and recommendations published by the U.S. Department of State, please check the U.S. Department of State’s website: http://www.state.gov/travel/.
Health/Immunizations: Boston College Campus Ministry requests that participants seriously consider protecting themselves before traveling outside of the U.S. with the immunizations and other preventative measures recommended by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). For more travel-related information and recommendations published by the CDC, please check the CDC’s website: http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/regionCentralAmerica.aspx.