What are Service and Immersion Programs?
Boston College offers over 20 programs, sponsored by various departments, providing students opportunities for real-life, community-based learning experience both at home and abroad. The programs foster a respect for the people, history, and cultures present in the countries or areas visited; a recognition of God's presence in the lives and cultures of the people we encounter; and a willingness to be challenged personally by the stories, the experiences, and the relationships that are encountered while on the trip. They are designed to provide an educational experience for students, using what is often referred to as the "action/reflection model". These programs are cognizant of the university's larger Jesuit mission of forming "men and women for others", and attentive to the spiritual formation of students who travel to serve and learn in impoverished areas. They include time for community building, education, and reflection before, during, and after the trip in order to help participants process and appropriate their shared and individual experiences. They not only encourage the growth and formation of our student participants, but should also contribute something positive toward fostering greater justice in the world. Key to this is the relationship nurtured with the host organizations and the solidarity that develops over time between Boston College and the communities visited. These opportunities travel over winter, spring, or summer breaks, and some programs travel multiple times per year.
Winter Break Trips
Arrupe International Program
The Arrupe International Program, sponsored by Boston College’s Campus Ministry, includes international immersion programs which allow students to learn about the lives of – and to be in solidarity with – people who live in social, economic and political marginalization in countries often described as “developing” and of the “Third World.” The Arrupe programs provide opportunities for participants to bear witness to stories of people who struggle for peace and justice – and often survival – in their respective communities. Grounded in faith and a commitment to social justice, the Arrupe programs encourage and challenge participants to discuss and reflect upon the larger social, economic, political and religious dynamics which affect the lives of the people who they encounter throughout the program. Participants are then encouraged and challenged to act upon what they believe.
In academic year 2009-2010 Arrupe trips will only occur during winter break and during the summer, and trips last anywhere from nine or ten days (over spring break) to about two weeks (during winter break and the summer). Ideally, the application process for participants begins several months prior to each trip’s departure date, allowing each team of participants to meet regularly, typically once a week for about two hours and occasionally for retreats. Besides meeting to learn about, reflect upon and discuss issues related to a particular host-country and how the U.S. might influence these issues, participants also build community and organize fundraising and awareness-building events. Since Boston College’s Campus Ministry sponsors these international immersion experiences, prayer and reflection are also vital components of each program. During the preparation and follow up processes and during each day of the trip, participants meet to share their thoughts and impressions, struggles and joys. Then, upon returning to campus, they continue to meet to process the experience and to discover ways in which to live in solidarity with the people they met and with others who suffer throughout the world.
For more information about the Arrupe International Program, check the Arrupe web page
The Deadline for Arrupe trips traveling over winter break 2009-2010 has passed. The teams have been selected. See information below regarding Arrupe trips traveling in the summer of 2010.
Navajo Nation Service Trip
The Faith, Peace, and Justice (FPJ) Program sponsors a winter break trip to the Navajo Nation, located near New Mexico. Participants learn about the Navajo culture and interact with members of the community through a variety of service projects. The trip is open to all Boston College undergraduate students. 2008-2009 application
The deadline for this trip has passed; applications are no longer being accepted.
Contact: Professor Matthew Mullane
Urban Immersion
During a week of winter break, 25 students and a BC campus minister will live in an urban neighborhood of Boston. Each day, we will work on a variety of projects which may include service in a food bank, visitation with guests in one of Boston's shelters, and outreach to local elderly. During evening seminars, we study a variety of urban issues such as racism, homelessness, and theological perspectives on urban life. To ground our community in the love and justice of God, we end each day in a communal multi-faith prayer service. Sponsored by Campus Ministry.
Contact: Fr. Don MacMillan
http://www.bc.edu/offices/campus-ministry/justice/urban/
Spring Break Trips
Bolivia Micro-Finance Service/Immersion Trip
This is a 10-day alternative Spring Break trip to Cochabamba, Bolivia. The trip consist of visits to NGO’s where we will engage in hands-on service learning. The learning associated with NGO visits and service learning opportunities will be reinforced through presentations made by local specialists in fields related to the group’s interests. Other major trip components include a home stay with local families, visits to local attractions and the implementation of a group-designed service project. The trip is sponsored through CSOM and is open to all Boston College undergraduates.
The deadline for this trip has passed; applications are no longer being accepted.
In 2009, this trip will travel to Nicaragua
Contact: bolivia@bc.edu
Dominican Republic
This Immersion/Service trip to Santo Domingo is a chance to become immersed in Dominican culture for one week while studying the range of schools in the Dominican educational system, from the best to the worst. The mission of this project is to compare the private and public school systems and get a first-hand understanding of the range of educational options available to Dominican children based on their socio-economic status. We will be fortunate enough to be spending several days within diverse schools in the following activities: volunteering, teaching and outreach. We will then compare and contrast the Dominican classrooms to what we know of the US educational system. Our primary volunteering location will be Villa Benedicion, an orphanage and school in Santo Domingo.While in the Dominican Republic we will provide a minimum of 20 hours of volunteer service across an assortment of educational situations and immerse ourselves as fully as possible in the culture of the DR and its people. The program is open to all Boston College undergraduate students.
The deadline for this trip has passed; applications are no longer being accepted.
Contact: Joana Maynard
Haiti Service Project
The Jesuit Community at Boston College sponsors a spring break trip to Haiti. The program seeks to introduce students to the Haitian poor and to the mystery of their survival and hopefulness; give students an opportunity to serve those in dire need; let the experience ripen through reflection, discussion and prayer; and cause students to understand themselves and their culture with new eyes. The trip is open to all Boston College undergraduate students. Due to a U.S. State Department travel warning, this year's trip is traveling to the Dominican Republic during the summer. This trip will not be travelling in 2008-2009.
Contact: Fr. Frank Herrmann
Jamaica Mustard Seed Trip
The Lynch School of Education sponsors a spring break trip to Jamaica. The trip seeks to provide participants with an opportunity to immerse themselves in the Jamaican Mustard Seed Community, a faith-based community dedicated to serving and uplifting the most vulnerable members of society. The trip is open to all Boston College undergraduate students.
The deadline for this trip has passed; applications are no longer being accepted.
Contact: Dr. Alec Peck
Summer Break Trips
El Salvador
While in El Salvador, students learn about the economic and political reality there; more specifically, the challenges facing Salvadoran youth. The trip also provides opportunities for the experiences, insights, struggles, needs, and hopes of the Salvadoran people to be heard and recognized--to "give voice to the voiceless." Ay taking this trip to El Salvador, participants are given an opportunity to have an intensive educational experience. While in El Salvador,participants will learn about the economic and political reality there; more specifically, the challenges facing Salvadoran youth. Participants will also beprovided withopportunities for the experiences, insights, struggles, needs, and hopes of the Salvadoran people to be heard and recognized; to “give voice to the voiceless.” Another objectiveof the trip is to provide a special understanding of the violence facing El Salvador today and the role of solidarity in peacemaking. The group also aims to facilitate contact that will encourage commitment to serving the poor. The program is open to all Boston College undergraduate students.
Contact: Tracy Eisenhauer
Nicaragua Service Trip
The Department of Sociology sponsors a trip to Nicaragua. This is trip is organized with the help of the Newton/San Juan del Sur Sister City Project. Some of our goals are to provide participants with an international immersion and service experience that explores global justice issues in the context of a developing nation; to encourage the application of the Nicaragua experience into the participants' curricular and life responsibilities; and to further the participants' understanding of the mission of Jesuit higher education and its emphasis on education for "the service of faith and the promotion of justice." View a slideshow of the previous trips here <http://www2.bc.edu/~malec/SanJuan04-06/>. The trip is open to all Boston College undergraduate students. Because we live and take most meals with local families who speak little English, some facility with basic Spanish is a plus. In 2009, this trip is tentatively scheduled for May 13-23. (Note the dates, as commencement is May 18).
The deadline for this trip has passed; applications are no longer being accepted.
Contact: Professor Michael Malec
Arrupe International Program - Summer Opportunities
The Arrupe International Program, sponsored by Boston College’s Campus Ministry, includes international immersion programs which allow students to learn about the lives of – and to be in solidarity with – people who live in social, economic and political marginalization in countries often described as “developing” and of the “Third World.” The Arrupe programs provide opportunities for participants to bear witness to stories of people who struggle for peace and justice – and often survival – in their respective communities. Grounded in faith and a commitment to social justice, the Arrupe programs encourage and challenge participants to discuss and reflect upon the larger social, economic, political and religious dynamics which affect the lives of the people who they encounter throughout the program. Participants are then encouraged and challenged to act upon what they believe.
Trips last anywhere from nine or ten days to about two weeks. Ideally, the application process for participants begins several months prior to each trip’s departure date, allowing each team of participants to meet regularly, typically once a week for about two hours and occasionally for retreats. Besides meeting to learn about, reflect upon and discuss issues related to a particular host-country and how the U.S. might influence these issues, participants also build community and organize fundraising and awareness-building events. Since Boston College’s Campus Ministry sponsors these international immersion experiences, prayer and reflection are also vital components of each program. During the preparation and follow up processes and during each day of the trip, participants meet to share their thoughts and impressions, struggles and joys. Then, upon returning to campus, they continue to meet to process the experience and to discover ways in which to live in solidarity with the people they met and with others who suffer throughout the world.
In 2009, the Arrupe program offers one summer trip to Cuernavaca. The deadline has passed and the team has been selected.
For more information about the Arrupe International Program, check the Arrupe web page
Immersion Experiences Happening Multiple Times a Year
Appalachia Volunteers
The Appalachia Volunteers program is committed to working with the poverty-stricken populous of the United States. Our mission throughout the year is the following: to learn about the structural and societal realities in the United States that leave some people impoverished and marginalized, to discuss the injustices that create entrenched poverty, to consider a theological and faith perspective on social justice and to participate in local service opportunities throughout the year. This year-long process culminates in an annual spring break trip to struggling regions of the United States. With these goals and our work, the Appalachia Program seeks to build a better future by entering into solidarity with the impoverished of Boston and beyond. The program is open to all Boston College undergraduate students. Sponsored by Campus Ministry.
Contacts: kwiatekj@bc.edu and beneveni@bc.edu
Email: appalachia@bc.edu
Campus Office: 111 McElroy
http://www.bc.edu/clubs/appalachia/
Natchez Immersion Program
The Natchez Service and Immersion Trip take place at the Holy Family Catholic School of Natchez, Mississippi over one week duringWinter and Spring break. The Holy Family School is one of the oldest African American Catholic schools in the country and is located in one of the poorest communities in the United States. The participants on this trip will be meeting and interacting with students, teachers, and administrators of the Holy Family Catholic School. While in Natchez we will: assess material needs to better supply the school; make donations; help improve the school’s physical condition by repairing buildings and beautifying the school’s grounds; and work with the Holy Family School community with areas they identify as needing assistance. Also, we will be going into the greater community and helping the town where the Holy Family School is located. There will also be a chanceto go into the classrooms and supervise the students in special projects. In the past, some of our BC students have taught informal lessons on Spanish, various art projects, and other lessons of interest.
Open to all students.
The deadline for this trip has passed; applications are no longer being accepted.
Contact: Bryan Ramos