Unlike students who will be traveling to Carribbean islands for summer vacation, eight Fairfield students will be helping others and immersing themselves in Mexican culture.
The students along with two faculty advisers Fr. Jim Mayzik; director of new media, film, and television; and Jean Santopatre, University photojournalist, will be lending a hand building homes, putting up fences and serving hot meals at soup kitchens on a Campus Ministry Immersion trip in Tijuana, Mexico.
Meghan Schelzi ’10, Ignacio Pallares ’10, Jen Dombrowski ’10, Jerry Schneider ’10, Bob Camissa ’10, Kristen Villanueva ’09, Lauren Levy ’09 and Jessica Bromberg ’08 are the students who will embark on this trip, which will last from May 23 to June 1.
Campus Ministry, along with Los Niños, a service organization that works with South American Countries, is planning the trip.
According to Campus Ministry, Los Niños looks to “improve the quality of life by creating opportunities for children and their families to realize their human potential through participation in the development of communities.”
The difference between this trip and previous service trips is the mission of “immersion,” a concept that is a priority for the group and its two University advisers, students said.
According to Levy, immersion refers to “learning about the culture instead of just helping them through service projects.”
Participants will have the opportunity to attend two border tours and address the issue of border security.
“I’ve done service trips before to Canada, but this one is different. We can broaden our horizons and see that the world is bigger than what is here at Fairfield,” said Dombrowski.
The students said they are looking forward to dedicating their time and services to those less fortunate in Tijuana.
“I’ve never been to Mexico, so it will be interesting to find out what it’s like first hand,” said Villanueva.
“These people really can’t afford it. We’re going there to build playgrounds, help orphans, build houses and put in any kind of manual labor we can,” said Levy.
Each student was required to fundraise at least $500 to cover the cost of travel expenses for the trip.
Students have also been participating in multiple fundraisers over the past couple of weeks.
Fundraisers included a letter-writing campaign, a bake sale and door-to-door solicitation of donations.
“We live in a dorm in Connecticut [but now] we’re getting the chance to learn about border issues from the border and experience their culture by living in it,” Dombrowski said.
The unique concept of this trip is the immersion aspect. Stuents at Fairifeld rarely have the oppurtunity to expose themselves to the culture outside the University, the participants said. The eight students embarking on the trip said they hope to have an eyeopening experience south of the border.
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