Looking for something a little different to do this summer? Perhaps you might be interested in the new Philippine Immersion Trip that will take place in July. It will last for about two weeks and students will visit Ateneo De Manila, a Jesuit university located in the city of Manila, considered to be the Philippine equivalent of Boston College.
Four years ago when Gabriela Fullon, student employee of AHANA Student Programs and LSOE '05, was a freshman, she thought of the idea of a service trip to the Philippines.
"This trip is my baby. This trip has been ruminating within me since before I was a freshman here. It's been an important part of my BC experience," said Fullon in an e-mail to The Heights.
In the summer of 2003, Fullon and Rowena Capuno, BC '04, participated in a Philippine Immersion Program through the University of San Francisco (USF). The two visited squatter settlements, Native Indian communities, and ecological sites.
"It was probably one of the best times in my life, and certainly at BC," said Fullon.
They then began seriously planning a similar program for BC students.
Fullon and Mark Miller, graduate assistant in the theology department and GA&S '05, will be co-leading the trip. Ricco Siasoco, part-time faculty in the English department and Learning to Learn consultant, is also one of the organizers.
Although it is not yet officially approved by BC, this pilot program, if approved, will allow students to serve various communities, including Payatas, and visit different sites in Manila to learn about Filipino traditions and way of life.
Fullon was deeply affected after seeing first-hand the economic circumstances of the Philippines.
"After visiting the Philippines as a child and seeing the poverty that people lived in there, I wanted to do some type of immersion/study abroad in the Philippines; and BC seemed like the perfect place to enact this sort of plan," she said.
Organizers coordinated with Dan Ponsetto, director of the Volunteer Service and Learning Center (VSLC) and professor Kerry Cronin, faculty advisor of this program and administrative editorial assistant of the Lonergan Institute.
One thing that distinguishes this immersion trip from other international ones is that there is an academic component.
Cronin will be responsible for teaching students involved in this immersion trip about the principles of Rev. Bernard Lonergan, S.J., an influencial theologian scholar and a distinguished professor of theology at BC.
Cronin will convey the philosophical aspects of service in the Philippines, especially Lonergan's theory of emergent probability, which deals with the distribution of wealth. In addition, students will be exposed to various pieces of Filipino literature.
Another aspect of this trip that sets it apart from other programs is that it will be the farthest any immersion trip has ventured.
Siasco is enthusiastic about the commencement of this innovative program and how it can broaden one's sense of community and service.
"It's important to give back to global community, to continue in our Jesuit principles. This means learning about the world in an academic sense and then putting that learning into action," he said.
"I hope that students will learn and actually understand the realities that people must face in different countries. I want students to recognize what it means when people say that we are a powerful country - they should understand how our history and our policies have affected other countries. I think this trip is a good way for people to question and then to better understand what it means to live in a global market," said Fullon.
Eight students can participate in the trip. They will stay in the dorms of Ateneo de Manila's campus. Those interested can pick up an application at Ricco Siasoco's office in the Learning to Learn Center at 50 College Rd. or e-mail him at siasco@bc.edu.
"I do not want this to be an experience where we as visitors objectify the people and the country. It's surely a difficult task but that's what we're going to work the hardest on.
"People on this trip are going to be coming from very different places, but if in the end, they grow as spiritual beings and better understand how they can change the world for better through this trip, then I think the goals of the trip have been accomplished. I always think that once we learn and experience something, we've got to share it with others," said Fullon.
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