Trip Destinations

Please note the dates for the Spring Break trips. The university Spring Break is March 2-8, 2025, while Stritch and the MSMP program’s Spring Break is March 9-16, 2025.

1-Week Spring Break Immersions, $1,000 individual fundraising goal:

Belize City, Belize 

March 9-15, 2025  

Open to all with these Spring Break dates

The Belize City immersion offers a unique experience that integrates cultural immersion in a country rich in Caribbean and Mayan history while supporting the right to housing for local residents and community members. Serving with long-time partner Hand in Hand Ministries, participants will participate in the building of a home in just one week – from start to finish – and will learn from and connect with local families. The ISI team will partake in key moments in the build, such as meeting the family who will live in the home, raising the home’s walls, and participating in the traditional house blessing. The ISI team will also gather for communal reflection and cultural learning on topics ranging from local outreach for those living with HIV/AIDS, Belize's response to COVID, health care delivery systems in Belize, and traditional forms of Belizean music and dance. 

*No language prerequisite.

10 to 12-Day Immersions, $1,100 individual fundraising goal: 

El Salvador and US-Mexico Border 

10 to 12 Days between May 27 - June 8, 2025 

Open to SSOM, Parkinson, & Graduate Students 

This immersion invites participants to follow the path of a Central American migrant by starting in El Salvador and then traveling to the US-Mexico Border. For the first part of the experience, the El Salvador Encounter through CRISPAZ is an educational immersion experience in which participants learn from the Salvadoran people about their lives, histories, and hopes for the future. A major focus of the encounter is to reflect on the meaning of working for justice rather than working for charity, understanding one’s role as a global citizen and humanizing the different issues that are present in our societies. Participants learn directly from Salvadorans about issues such as the impact of war, neo-liberal economics, U.S. foreign policy, migration, mining, the environment and a tradition of liberating faith all through a healthcare lens. The trip will also include meetings with Salvadoran medical professionals to learn from health care teams and public health educators to understand ongoing initiatives in a rural community. The immersion then continues to the US-Mexico Border where participants will visit migrant shelters and learn from various migrant justice and advocacy organizations, such as COFAMIDE, No More Deaths, and Hogar de Esperanza y Paz. 

*No language prerequisite, but basic Spanish is recommended. 

Guatemala

May 8-17, 2025 

Open to ABSN, Parkinson, & Graduate Students 

Facilitated and organized by Augsburg University Center for Global Education and Experience, this immersion in Guatemala focuses on meanings and expressions of health, illness, care, and healing through a transcultural lens. Exploring health as a human right, students will begin to name and bear witness to structures of injustice and health inequities within the context of post-civil war Guatemala. Students are offered a wide variety of experiences to learn from the indigenous Maya how health and healing are threatened by social structures or sustained in community. In addition, students experience traditional Mayan healing rituals and hear stories of the strategies the poor employ to create health in communities and fair access to health resources. Through visits to museums, hospitals, nonprofit organizations, and historical sites, participants will immerse themselves in the culture of Guatemala and learn about its approach to health and wellbeing. 

*No language prerequisite, but basic Spanish is recommended. 

2-Week Immersions, $1,250 individual fundraising goal: 

Palacios, Bolivia

May 25 - June 8 or 9, 2025 

Open to SSOM students 

The majority of this immersion is spent in a rural clinic, Centro Medico Susan Hou. Founded in 2001 by Loyola nephrologist, the late Dr. Susan Hou, her husband, Northwestern endocrinologist Dr. Mark Molitch, and Bolivian endocrinologist, Dr. Douglas Villaroel, CMHP serves over 3,000 patients annually through clinic visits, surgical campaigns, deparatization programs, and emergency care resources. Participants at this site receive exposure to clinical flow and care provided in CMHP, having the opportunity to participate with daily clinic operations such as assisting in the lab or pharmacy, patient intake, observing physicians, and practicing patient interview skills in Spanish. Students may also work with the network of Community Health Promoters and give health education presentations at local schools. While in Palacios, students stay in a home on the clinic property and are immersed in the daily-life routines of the surrounding community. 

*Advanced or fluent Spanish is a prerequisite for participation. 

Quito, Ecuador

May 25 - June 8, 2025 

Open to SSOM & Parkinson students 

Join the tremendous work of the Center A Family of Families (Centro una Familia de Familias) in Quito, Ecuador. Their mission to accompany and educate began over 50 years ago as an effort to provide an employment alternative to shoeshine boys working in the streets. Today, the work of the center has grown to positively impact the lives of over 6,000 families, or over 30,000 individuals, through accompaniment of whole families, building educational opportunities, providing technical skill training, and community building through education and health initiatives. The ISI team will learn about daily life of the community as well as the intersection of community need and organized response. Participants will encounter local Family & Social Promoters who work with individuals and families on basic health practices and initiatives through home visits and educational sessions. There will also be opportunities hear from local physicians, physical therapists, or other health care providers as they respond to the health care needs of the community. 

*Conversational to advanced Spanish is a prerequisite for participation.  

4–5-week immersions, $1,500 individual fundraising goal: 

Quito, Ecuador

May 25-mid-June, 2025

Open to SSOM and Parkinson students

Join the tremendous work of the Center for Working Families (Centro una Familia de Familias) in Quito, Ecuador. Their mission to accompany and educate began over 50 years ago as an effort to provide an employment alternative to shoeshine boys working in the streets. Today, the work of the center has grown to positively impact the lives of over 6,000 families, or over 30,000 individuals, through accompaniment of whole families, building educational opportunities, providing technical skill training, and community building through education and health initiatives. The ISI team will learn about daily life of the community as well as the intersection of community need and organized response. Participants will encounter local Family & Social Promoters who work with individuals and families on basic health practices and initiatives through home visits and educational sessions. There will also be opportunities hear from local physicians, physical therapists, or other health care providers as they respond to the health care needs of the community.  

* Conversational to advanced Spanish is a prerequisite for participation.