Guatemala Summer Course

This 3-credit summer travel course is open to all undergrads, especially those who are career-minded, communally-minded, and chessed-oriented. It will primarily benefit students interested in finance, sociology, pre/public/allied health, education, politics, psychology, and Jewish studies. 

Reconsider if you are looking for luxury accommodation, do not enjoy packing light, or are not good with deadlines.

Application

Use YUCL ID #233860 to apply by March 25th to receive the early-bird pricing. 

You'll need both an approved resume and a cover letter. 

Early submissions will have an advantage. (Note that once uploaded, documents take 1-2 business days to be reviewed; few meet industry standards upon initial upload without first closely following our employer-approved guides and templates available under Modules on our canvas hub, and then reviewing with a CAPS advisor or student employee.)

Course fee

The course fees cover the cost of the trip, including your insurance, accommodation, domestic travel, food, and activities while overseas. 

(Due to increased costs associated with late changes to the program, the price will increase to $3000 if space is still available in April.)   

An initial non-refundable deposit of $1000 will be due before Pesach.

The balance will be due by midnight on May 10th.

Your timely payments are crucial for us to pay our overseas deposits on time. Failure to meet these deadlines may mean that you'll be unable to participate in this program and forfeit your deposit. 

Students will be responsible for booking their own flights at their own expense NLT 30 days before the program begins.

Fundraising

We ask that you raise $100 (minimum) to support the programs we run and the non-profits we'll be partnering with. This will enable us to make a bigger impact during our trip, as will friends/family members who help you purchase supplies from the Amazon wish-list that our partners request to bring with us. 

Yes. But don’t drink the tap water! 

This is YU's 4th trip to the country since 2003.

We'll stay near Comunidad Judia de Guatemala (CJG), the Orthodox community's campus in the capital's upscale hotel district, and also in the idyllic UNESCO World Heritage town of Antigua. 

Scores of Jewish and general groups (and tens of thousands of families and individuals) visit the region each year, thankfully without incident. These range from medical missions, groups of Jewish young professionals, Jewish high schools, and others.

Guatemala is one of the world's most pro-semitic countries and was among the first to move its embassy to Yerushalayim!  The President even speaks fluent Hebrew!

A lot. 

You'll learn Spanish (several hours a day for a week!)

You’ll learn about yourself and your peers. 

You’ll learn and build on the 8 NACE career competencies that employers most desire. 

You’ll learn about healthcare disparities and the social determinants of health. 

And much more! 

Plenty. You'll get a really good feel for Guatemalans, their history, country and culture. 

Weather-permitting we'll get up close to a live volcano, see some of the country's most popular tourist attractions, and enjoy the beautiful countryside.  

Details to follow.

1. Purchase and read our core text: Silence on the Mountain (Duke University Press) in preparation for our first group discussion.

2. Do some pre-reading about Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) 

3. Consider the types of things that NGOs/communities/families in poor areas without access to clean water and regular electricity may need. (We'll aim to bring with us some of the items they request.)

4. Read about Ethical Volunteering and the Savior complex. Start here.

Once your full application has been reviewed and accepted, we'll notify you to proceed with booking your flights to/from Guatemala's international airport (GUA). 

Be sure to arrive by noon on Tuesday May 26th and depart no earlier than 5pm on Thursday June 4th.

We recognize that students will be coming from different regions and encourage you to use Google Flights or an agent/site of your choice to book the option that works best for you. ~2 weeks before departure, we'll share a spreadsheet with everyone's travel details to help you coordinate travel with others on your flight, and we'll confirm transport arrangements to our hotel, just 10 minutes from the airport and near Guatemala City's beautiful JCC-style Shul campus. 

The course will be led by Rabbi Daniel Coleman, Sr. Associate Director of Career Advising at the Shevet Glaubach Center (SGC), and Chaplain in the US Air Force Reserves (USAF-R). He's led trips to the region for multiple groups; Read about his first YU trip here, and see the photos here. He will be accompanied by Dr. Jill Katz, Department Chair, Sociology, on her 3rd YU trip to Guatemala!    

(Additional staff/faculty TBA.)

Email daniel.coleman@yu.edu