Service Immersion Experiences

The Centro una Familia de Familias, also known as The Center for Working Families, is a Jesuit ministry located in Quito, Ecuador. Founded in 1964, the Center’s original mission focused on the educational needs of shoe shine boys working on the streets of the Ecuadorian capitol. Soon afterward, the program was expanded to include the entire family and the Working Boys’ Center was born. Since its inception, the Center’s overarching objective has been to eliminate poverty among working children and their families. To date, over 6,000 families or around 30,000 people have left poverty forever as a result of the Center’s programs.

The Centro una Familia de Familias focuses on strengthening and uplifting the whole family as a means to fight poverty. Their holistic program offers education programs, health care, and job training to name a few of their services. The Center also assists families in starting new businesses and in building their homes.  In the more than fifty years the Center has operated they have assisted over 6,000 families totaling over 30,000 individuals to escape poverty.

Before working with the Centro una Familia de Familias:

60.3% of people lived in a single-room dwelling
73% of people had access to a sewer system
12% of people had telephone service
52.9% of people had seen a doctor for preventive purposes
40.5% of people had running water

After working with the Centro una Familia de Familias:

Only 2.9% of people lived in a single-room dwelling
More than 96% of beneficiaries had access to a sewer system
59.2% of people attained telephone service
More than 63.2% had seen a doctor for preventive purposes
94.7% of people had running water

McQuaid Jesuit students will get a full immersion experience while spending a week working alongside the people of Quito. Students will get many hands-on experiences at the Centro una Familia de Familias through touring the facilities, helping prepare lunch for the students, learning about the trade skills program by shadowing older students, and celebrating Mass at the Center. On one of the final days of the trip McQuaid students engage in a “minga” or work day. They assist in building a home for a family that is helped by the Center.

Ecuador has a vibrant history and culture that students will learn about throughout the trip. There will be a tour of the historic city center including sights such as the presidential palace and Quito’s most well-known Jesuit church, the Compania de Jesus.  Otovalo Market is one of  the most well-known markets in South American and students will get a chance to see the work of local artisans and vendors and barter with them on a day trip to this small town north of Quito. Other opportunities to learn about Ecuador and its people include visiting the homes of families served by the Center and seeing El Mitad del Mundo, the center of the world equator monument.

McQuaid Jesuit students who serve at the Centro una Familia de Familias live with other volunteers in the “Volunteer Center.” The residence houses year-long as well as short-term volunteers and their chaperones. Students live in traditional dorm rooms with three other classmates. Each room has four bunk beds, a bathroom and shower. The staff of the Volunteer Center provides food for breakfast and lunch, and they prepare dinners five nights a week. The staff also ensures potable water is available to all volunteers.

Appalachia is a 205,000 square mile region centering on the Appalachian Mountains from Southern New York to Northern Mississippi.  It includes all of West Virginia and parts of 12 other states.  Almost half of the region’s population is rural, compared with 20% of the national population.

While in Appalachia McQuaid Jesuit partners with The Appalachian Institute at Wheeling University (AI). The AI’s mission is to promote “research, service, and advocacy for and with the people of Appalachia to build healthier, stronger, and more sustainable communities.”  The Institute is rooted in Jesuit tradition and seeks increase awareness about issues that relate to the Appalachian region including public health, environmental degradation, poverty, and job loss .

To implement its mission, the Appalachian Institute coordinates service learning and immersion trips for high school and college groups from around the country.

McQuaid Jesuit students travel to Wheeling, West Virginia, to participate in the AI’s week long Direct Service Immersion Program. The group will partner with organizations in the Wheeling area and possibly in another more rural community. The types of service could include home repair projects, serving meals in a soup kitchen, helping at an after school program for children, or working on a local, organic farm cooperative to name a few.

In addition to service, students will also learn about West Virginia’s history through a tour of historic downtown Wheeling and a musical program about the history of the labor movement in Appalachia. They will also get to see first hand some of the devastating environmental impacts of coal mining and refining by visiting coal extraction sites.

Students live in simple bunkhouse-style quarters arranged by the AI. As on other service trips, students will live in community and share responsibilities of cooking meals and cleaning.

St. Anne’s Mission is a Franciscan ministry in Klagetoh, Arizona and on the Navajo Nation approximately halfway between Albuquerque, New Mexico and Flagstaff, Arizona.  In addition to serving as a Roman Catholic parish, St. Anne’s Mission provides a variety of outreach ministries to the Navajo people, including basic home repairs, programming and education for children, a nutrition assistance program, and services for the elderly.

The Navajo Reservation is the most expansive Native American reservation in the United States, covering an area larger than Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire combined.  It is also home to some of the poorest people in the country with about 40% of the population living below the poverty line. The Navajo people face many additional challenges such as scarce employment opportunities, lack of basic modern necessities like running water, high rates of disease, and of course isolation in a vast rural landscape.

The Mission welcomes volunteer groups of schools, universities, and parishes that support its programming throughout the year. McQuaid Jesuit typically works at the Mission for ten or eleven days in mid-July.

St. Anne’s Mission typically engages high school groups in a variety of home repair projects. These projects can vary from roofing homes to repairing fences or splitting wood. Students often are volunteering at the homes of elderly Navajo people who can no longer engage in more labor-intensive work.  The projects inevitably bring students into contact with these Navajo families, who will frequently take time to share their stories and answer questions.

With a large population of young children in the area, St. Anne Mission also sponsors activities for them, including trips to swim at a local reservoir and nightly romps on the Mission’s playground. Basketball and volleyball are popular sports on the reservation and this brings groups of local teenagers to the Mission’s court almost every night looking to play.

Aside from encountering the local community through service and sport, students will have opportunities to learn about the Navajo people and the southwest through trips to places such as Canyon de Chelly National Monument or Grand Canyon National Park. Our group will also get to participate in an authentic Navajo sweat lodge and possibly witness some traditional Pueblo Indian Dances.

Our work at St. Anne Mission is accompanied by regular reflection, drawing on scripture, the Native American tradition, and Ignatian spirituality.  Students are challenged to look inward and examine their strengths and weaknesses in the context of encountering and accompanying the poor.

Students live in simple, dorm-style housing while staying at St. Anne Mission.  Meals are shared, and students assist with food preparation.  Depending on the trip itinerary, the group may camp out for a couple nights at a state or national park.

Students do not have access to personal electronic devices during the trip.  Faculty leaders maintain daily communication with parents via email and text messages.  Due to the isolated nature of the region, cellular coverage in northeast Arizona is limited, but the Mission has reliable wifi and a landline.

Urban Plunge is a three-day, four-night experience of service immersion open to juniors and seniors. This unique service immersion trip offers an opportunity to better understand the experience of the marginalized in the City of Rochester. The weekend is sponsored and run by the Sisters of St. Joseph Volunteer Corp.

Students stay at the Sisters of St. Joseph house near St. Boniface Church in Rochester.  Throughout the week students will have the opportunity to volunteer at a Rochester-area charity, build community with their classmates, and reflect on values of service and justice.  In the evenings, the Sisters lead reflections and students have the chance to enjoy some downtime with games and other activities.

Home-cooked meals are provided while staying at the SSJ House, and lunch is provided at students’ service sites. Lunch will be provided to students at their service sites on Saturday.  Accommodations for students are bunk-style rooms. Students do not have access to personal electronic devices during the weekend activities.  Faculty leaders will maintain daily communication with parents via email and text messages.

St. Luke’s Mission of Mercy is a comprehensive outreach organization on the East Side of Buffalo.  It provides a variety of services and ministries focused on the dignity of neighborhood residents, including a daily lunch, food pantry, clothing, an elementary school, and short-term accomodations.  It is staffed by lay missionaries and supported by many volunteers throughout the year.

Students participate in a variety of service work at St. Luke’s, including prepping and serving lunch, stocking the clothing store, visiting with students at the elementary school, and cleaning the church.   This immersion also includes an exploration of the challenges facing the East Side neighborhood of Buffalo and a tour of Buffalo’s historic and culturally significant sites.

Students typically stay in a modest Airbnb in the city and prepare meals as a group.  Dinner one evening will feature a visit to one of Buffalo’s best spots for chicken wings.

The Camino Institute plays host to groups at its campus in the mountains of the central Dominican Republic.  Groups work on a designated service project, visit with local families, enjoy the beautiful surroundings, and engage in meaningful conversation and reflection.  The Camino Institute’s program is based on four themes: traveling with purpose, being of service, disconnecting to reconnect, and focusing on what matters.   (Note that Mr. Adam Baber, director of service and justice, is a co-founder of the Camino Institute.)