Preface
Service-oriented travel has been increasing in popularity for at least the past two decades. Recent figures suggest that roughly one million Americans undertake short-term "mission" trips abroad each year--a significant portion of them to Central America. Included in this figure are the hundreds of American students from Jesuit colleges and universities who undertake service-oriented or immersion trips to Central American countries. If you are, or have been, or would like to be, one of those students, then this website is primarily for you. The site assumes that you have (or will have) some personal experience visiting one or more of the Central American countries and that you have a desire to learn more about the place(s) you are visiting. The site provides a brief narrative of Central America's shared history and the histories of each individual country. It also presents key sources for a deeper exploration of each country's history and culture. The overarching goal of these materials is to help readers to achieve the Ignatian ideal of “a well-educated solidarity” as they embark on their service-oriented travel to Central America.
Since the founding of the Society of Jesus, cura personalis, the care and education of the “whole person,” has been an ideal of Jesuit education. But what does the education of the “whole person” look like in the 21st century? In 2000, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., addressed the participants in a conference on the “Commitment to Justice in Jesuit Higher Education,” held at the University of Santa Clara. Kolvenbach’s now-famous speech on the service of faith and promotion of justice in Jesuit higher education provide the context for the phrase “a well-educated solidarity.” He argued that “tomorrow’s ‘whole person’ cannot be whole without an educated awareness of society and culture with which to contribute socially, generously, in the real world. Tomorrow’s whole person must have, in brief, a well-educated solidarity…Students, in the course of their formation, must let the gritty reality of this world into their lives, so they can learn to feel it, think about it critically, respond to its suffering, and engage it constructively.”
This site draws its inspiration from this assertion, which has many implications. First and foremost, it implies that a commitment to faith and justice obligates us to become educated about the world around us. It also implies that social justice cannot happen in the absence of effective analysis: in seeking solidarity for and with others, it is imperative that we not burden those whom we serve with our ignorance.
This site presents a wealth of information on Central American history because solidarity with those whom we serve cannot happen without our willingness to engage critically and earnestly with their history, language, and culture. The Brazilian educational theorist Paulo Freire long ago recognized that “action without critical reflection and even without gratuitous contemplation is disastrous activism...[And] theory or introspection in the absence of collective social action is escapist idealism or wishful thinking.” Freire’s words, too, underpin much of what you will encounter as you explore this website. If what you find here provokes your desire to learn more, as well as to do more, then you can consider yourself well along the path toward achieving “a well-educated solidarity” with the people of Central America.
Before you begin exploring the site, however, perhaps you would like to learn about the Five Reasons to Consider Cancelling Your Service Trip to Central America.
What does the phrase "a well-educated solidarity" have to do with service-oriented travel?
Since the founding of the Society of Jesus, cura personalis, the care and education of the “whole person,” has been an ideal of Jesuit education. But what does the education of the “whole person” look like in the 21st century? In 2000, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., addressed the participants in a conference on the “Commitment to Justice in Jesuit Higher Education,” held at the University of Santa Clara. Kolvenbach’s now-famous speech on the service of faith and promotion of justice in Jesuit higher education provide the context for the phrase “a well-educated solidarity.” He argued that “tomorrow’s ‘whole person’ cannot be whole without an educated awareness of society and culture with which to contribute socially, generously, in the real world. Tomorrow’s whole person must have, in brief, a well-educated solidarity…Students, in the course of their formation, must let the gritty reality of this world into their lives, so they can learn to feel it, think about it critically, respond to its suffering, and engage it constructively.”
This site draws its inspiration from this assertion, which has many implications. First and foremost, it implies that a commitment to faith and justice obligates us to become educated about the world around us. It also implies that social justice cannot happen in the absence of effective analysis: in seeking solidarity for and with others, it is imperative that we not burden those whom we serve with our ignorance.
This site presents a wealth of information on Central American history because solidarity with those whom we serve cannot happen without our willingness to engage critically and earnestly with their history, language, and culture. The Brazilian educational theorist Paulo Freire long ago recognized that “action without critical reflection and even without gratuitous contemplation is disastrous activism...[And] theory or introspection in the absence of collective social action is escapist idealism or wishful thinking.” Freire’s words, too, underpin much of what you will encounter as you explore this website. If what you find here provokes your desire to learn more, as well as to do more, then you can consider yourself well along the path toward achieving “a well-educated solidarity” with the people of Central America.
Before you begin exploring the site, however, perhaps you would like to learn about the Five Reasons to Consider Cancelling Your Service Trip to Central America.
Discussion of "Preface"
Add your voice to this discussion.
Checking your signed in status ...