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This 3-credit summer travel course is open to all students, especially those that 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.

Course fee

All course fees will be going towards the cost of the trip including your insurance, accommodation, domestic travel, food and activities while overseas.   

An initial non-refundable deposit of $1000 will be due before Pesach along with your course registration, approved resume, and cover letter.

The balance will be due by midnight on May 15th.

Your timely payments and response to additional requests (like medical forms etc.) is 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. 

Fundraising

We will provide a link to share with your family and networks to raise $360 (minimum) that will enable us to make a bigger impact during our trip. 

Funds should be raised by the end of the semester to enable us to purchase supplies that our partners request to bring with us. 

Yes. But don’t drink the tap water! 

We'll be based in the upscale hotel district of the capital and in the 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 be released on 3/10

1. Purchase and read (at least) the first 5 chapters (70 pages) of our core text:  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 individuals/families living in extreme poverty without access to clean water and regular electricity may need.

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

Be sure to arrive by 4pm on Sunday June 8th and depart no earlier than 2pm on Wednesday June 18th.

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. 2-3 weeks before departure, we'll share a spreadsheet with everyone's travel details to enable you to coordinate travel with others on your flight. We will also confirm pickup arrangements from the airport to our hotel just 10 minutes away near Centro Hebreo, Guatemala City's beautiful Shul campus. 

For those coming from NY, we recommend

The course will be led by Rabbi Daniel Coleman, Sr. Associate Director of the Shevet Glaubach Center (SGC), and Chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserves (USAF-R). This is his 7th trip to the region and builds on the success of the original . He will be accompanied by Dr. Jill Katz, Department Chair, Sociology, on her 3rd ÿÈÕ´ó¹Ï trip to Guatemala! 

(Additional staff/faculty TBA.)

Email daniel.coleman@yu.edu