Support Mission Trip in Cuba

Dear friends and family,

Every year for the past five years, a group of young men from the University of Notre Dame and Windmoor Study Center have used their spring break to make a mission trip to Santiago, Cuba. This year, we will be living and working with the parish community of St. Bartolome, focusing on the construction of a much needed new church building.

Community in Christ is at the heart of this trip. This is the third year that we are visiting the town of Baire, and the bonds which we have developed with the members of the local community have been of deep friendship and real kinship.

Simply speaking, the parishioners of St. Bartolome love receiving us, and we love visiting them.

For both political and economic reasons, the people of Baire cannot travel outside their home country, so through our visit, we bring a bit of the world to them. Students who have previously gone on this trip have stayed in touch with members of the local community through letters, some social media, and email. More importantly, we’ve stayed in touch through prayer: as we’ve promised to pray for them, and they’ve promised to pray for us. Because of political pressures, practicing one’s faith in Cuba is often seen as something for women and children. By simply being there, we are able to offer a good example — to see young American men taking their faith seriously goes a long way for this small parish. This has been confirmed by Fr. Rogelio, the pastor of St. Bartolome, who has expressed his deep gratitude for the trip’s impact on the community .

But the example which the community of Baire presents for us is equally, if not more, transformative. The community’s strength in resolute faith is a profound example for those that make the trip, and serves as a powerful response to the all­ too­ prevalent American tendency to take things — like faith — for granted. Additionally, working alongside members of an impoverished community on a physically demanding task builds tight bonds and helps students realize the importance of work in leading a meaningful life.This service trip is an experience of the richness of the Catholic faith.

We will visit many youth groups, parochial centers, and even visit the only private nursing home in Cuba, run by Catholic sisters. We will not only merely taste Cuban Catholicism, but more importantly, we will fully join the parish community of Baire by living with host families in the community. Through this immersion of daily interactions, the project develops a profoundly personal element. These concrete human relationships will allow us to see how the common good for the community is found through a shared goal and will help us to come to a better understanding of and appreciation for authentic human dignity.

We would like to thank you for supporting us in our intellectual and spiritual pursuits. Those of us who have gone before are excited to return to physically work for a community that has done so much for us spiritually; and those of us who go on this trip for the first time are excited to experience such a powerful expression of faith.


Where your Donation Goes

Your financial support goes toward subsidizing our airfare, making it more economically feasible for us to travel to Cuba and work with the joyful parish community of Baire. I will collect the money into my personal bank account, and then transfer it as reimbursement to Windmoor Study Center in South Bend, IN, which generously booked and paid for our plane tickets.