Immersion Trips

Urban and Rural Plunges

Throughout the year - Juniors and Seniors

Locally, Bellarmine sponsors both urban and rural "plunges" on a number of weekends throughout the school year. These local immersion experiences offer students and faculty the opportunity to understand the impact of poverty at the local level, to experience directly the poor affected by this poverty and a chance to take action in response to what the students have witnessed on their journey.

• The urban plunge provides students and faculty with the opportunity to grapple with the issues related to homelessness in San Jose. Students meet with a number of different agencies that serve the homeless, and provide service via working at soup kitchens.
• The rural plunge takes students to Salinas for several days, where they hope to better understand the struggles faced by migrant farm workers by working with them.

Ignatian Family Teach-In

Fall - All Grade Levels

Faculty and students meet with the Ignatian family to honor the life of the Salvadoran Martyrs and respond to the justice issues of our day. The Ignatian family attends a three-day learning experience to dialogue and strategize about ways to confront issues of injustice, poverty, and oppression, both nationally and internationally.

Los Angeles Service & Solidarity Immersion

Winter Break - Juniors and Seniors

Students have the opportunity to spend their winter break in the state's complex and diverse urban center of Los Angeles, to witness and serve the marginalized while living and engaging in communities that serve them. Staying in several locations around downtown Los Angeles, students serve the area in a variety of ways from soup kitchens to tutoring youths. Students will visit Homeboy Industries, a leader in gang rehabilitation and a parish community, Dolores Mission, in the Boyle Heights area just east of downtown. Students travel with a backpack and sleeping bag while using public transportation to move around the city so as to appreciate and enter into the greater reality of the poor.

Kino Border Initiative

Easter Break - Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors

Building the Kino Border Initiative is a ministry that is co-sponsored by the Jesuits of the California Province, along with five other major religious organizations.  Kino is located on both sides of the border town of Nogales, Arizona. The group of upperclassmen will stay in a motel on the Arizona side of the border and spend each day working with representative from Kino to provide humanitarian assistance to those who have recently been deported.

Appalachia Service Immersion

Summer - Rising Juniors and Seniors

Ecuador Service Trip

Winter Break - Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors

Students will live and work at the Working Boys Center (WBC) in Quito, Ecuador. Founded by Fr. John Halligan, SJ, and staffed by BVM nuns, the Working Boys Center strives to alleviate the strains of poverty amongst the poorest of the poor in Quito through education, vocational job certification and training in parenting and financial planning. Students will assist grammar school teachers, help in vocational school classrooms, do labor around the two WBC campuses, participate in a weekend house building project with WBC families, help prepare meals, visit WBC families in their homes and live in community, reflecting nightly on their experiences.

Taiwan Solidarity and Cultural/Language Immersion

Winter Break - Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors

The Taiwan Immersion trip places an emphasis on the core Ignatian values taught at Bellarmine College Preparatory, with components addressing both social justice and the treatment of marginalized sections of society. This emphasis will occur in the context of a Chinese language experience. Historical sites will be visited and a unique interaction with the indigenous population of Taiwan is planned. The indigenous peoples of Taiwan have faced economic and social barriers, including a high unemployment rate and a substandard education. The trip will also give students an opportunity to meet typical Taiwanese high school students and to participate in their daily learning activities. It will provide Bellarmine students a glimpse into their lives, values and challenges in the changing landscape of China.

Tijuana Service Immersion

Easter Break - Sophomores. Juniors and Seniors

During Easter break, students, members of the Dad’s Club, and faculty travel into Tijuana to literally build a foundation for the future for four to five families living in Tijuana. Under the direction of Amor Ministries, students work in groups of about 12 on four to five houses. Family members may very well be working side-by-side with the students as they build the houses.

El Salvador Solidarity Immersion

June - Rising Seniors

While in El Salvador, the students will examine the history and influences of the Jesuit martyrs, visit with members of the two major opposing political parties, and visit our sister community in Agua Escondida. In addition, the delegation will attend several meetings with representatives of various human rights, labor and environmental groups. Daily reflection, discussion, and journal writing are essential aspects of this trip. Upon their return to Bellarmine, the delegation will be involved in several activities during the school year to bring the experiences of this trip to the entire Bellarmine Community. The delegation will host the Solidarity Dinner in support of our sister community.

Guatemala Service & Solidarity Immersion

June - Rising Juniors and Seniors

Students travel to Guatemala City to serve and accompany students and staff at Esperanza Juvenil. Known as Boys Hope Girls Hope in the United States, this Guatemalan program provides approximately 60 youth with shelter, food, clothing, and a comprehensive education and co-curricular program. Service activities include painting, building maintenance and tutoring. These projects are paralleled with constant soccer, art and conversation with the children. The group will also visit Mayan ruins and tour the vibrant cultural center of Antigua.

Mexico Service & Cultural/Language Immersion

June - Rising Juniors and Seniors

A group of students and faculty leaders will travel to Mexico for a 12-day immersion in language, culture, and service. Starting in Mexico City, the group will explore the vast capital city and familiarize themselves with the smells, the sights and the sounds of this metropolis of over 21 million people. Students then travel to the outskirts of Puebla, living in solidarity with the orphan boys at IPODERAC. The group completes 50 hours of service at the orphanage while living as the community lives and helping with daily jobs that have included harvesting alfalfa for goats, woodworking, gardening and maintenance. After six days of work, the group heads north to the small colonial town of Guanajuato, where the group will explore many attractions and reflect on their experience at the orphanage. A final afternoon is spent back in Mexico City, where the group will further explore the city in a special walking tour.

South Africa Immersion

June - Rising Juniors and Seniors

This trip explores the dimensions of social (in)justice in post-apartheid South Africa.  Students will meet with political and religious leaders, as well as explore local townships and community organizers.

India Cultural & Service Course

Summer - Rising Seniors

The India Immersion Course analyzes contemporary justice issues and the religions of India. Students will stay in a Jesuit community in Pune while visiting students at a local Jesuit high school and hearing mini-lectures from Jesuits while visiting surrounding temples and slum-neighborhoods. In the second week, students travel to Varanasi to work with the Missionaries of Charity, walk where Buddha gave his first sermon, walk the ghats along the Ganges River, and visit more temples. Students ultimately explore how world religions respond to poverty.