International Service Immersion Experiences

Benedictine University is currently able to offer students opportunities for international service through a partnership with the Diocese of Joliet.  Two trips are currently available:  one to the Philippines during the semester break in January and one to Bolivia during the summer.  More information about University Mission trips offered by the Diocese of Joliet can be found by visiting www.paxjoliet.org/missions.

Students have also begun to explore opportunities that will allow them to provide service to the people of Haiti!  More information can be found below.

Bolivia

The University Mission to Sucre began in 1995 through the efforts of Sister Dolores Zemont, O.S.F. at the University of St. Francis.  In 2001 it was expanded by the diocese's Peace and Social Justice Ministry to include students from all three of the diocese's Catholic universities:  Benedictine University, Lewis University, and the University of St. Francis.  In partnership with the diocese's Office of Campus Ministry, students from the College of DuPage, Elmhurst College, Joliet Junior College, and North Central College are also included in this mission opportunity.

While in Sucre, students minister in several orphanages, day care centers, a home for delinquent boys, a home for abandoned boys, a hospital built by the diocese, as well as clinics in the barrios.  This trip is a two week mission/retreat experience

Philippines

Benedictine University Ministry has joined the Diocese of Joliet the past several years, in traveling to Bacolod, Philippines.  The primary goal of the mission is to build a house, with the Gawad Kalinga organization. Students will also dialogue with local university students and spend time with families in the village.  This promises to be a cultural experience you will never forget!

Haiti

Members of the Benedictine community have expressed a desire to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti.  As such, a group called “Haiti Connection” has begun to form for that exact purpose.  In support of “Haiti Connection,” the Peace and Social Justice Committee collected pillow cases for Haiti during the 2012 Lenten season.  The pillow cases were used to make dresses for young girls in this poor nation.  This is just one example of the many ways students are trying to support Haiti!

If you are interested in getting involved with "Haiti Connection," please contact Katie LeGros or Maggie Noldan.