Video by Kate Benjamin ’15
During winter break, 16 Holy Cross students participated in an immersion program to Nicaragua to gain greater knowledge of the culture, social and political reality of the developing country. Kate Benjamin ’15, a history major from Pound Ridge, N.Y., captured footage and created a short video of the experience.
Accompanied by Rev. Gregory Lynch, S.J., assistant chaplain and director of service and social justice programs at the College, students encountered aspects of Nicaraguan culture through project sites, input sessions, day trips, memorial sites, worship experiences, and daily reflection.
The Nicaragua Immersion Program is in its sixth year. The Chaplains’ Office at Holy Cross runs several other immersion programs in which students travel to El Salvador, Jamaica, Kenya, and numerous locations throughout the country as part of the Spring Break Immersion Program, where students participate in community service.
As a Holy Cross alum (Class of ’87) and the CEO of IPM (www.ipmconnect.org) since 2001, I am honored and humbled to help facilitate IPM’s ongoing partnership with the Chaplains’ Office to coordinate Immersion Experience programs to Nicaragua, Kenya, and El Salvador. Working with the College in this way has been one of the enduring highlights of my professional life. Together we continue to form men and women for others with a unique global perspective so needed in our world today. Peace, Joe