We are very excited about this year’s mission trip to Guatemala.  Clicking the link in the red bar above will take you to our itinerary, and as you can see, we will be having an amazing experience. (Please remember, though, that the itinerary may change.)  We try to be flexible once we are in the country to take advantage of unexpected opportunities.

We have a truly extraordinary group of students who have been working hard to prepare academically, socially, physically, emotionally, and, most importantly, spiritually for the trip.  We know that this trip will be an incredible one.

In these uncertain times, we want you to know the specifics about what we are doing to ensure your child’s safety during the upcoming trip to Guatemala.  We have a number of procedures in place to assess, prevent, and guarantee safety as best we can.  Furthermore, we have instituted some additional procedures this year to enhance communication between you and our students, should an emergency arise.  Please be reassured that their safety is our first priority.

We work with two important organizations for our trip: Queens University of Charlotte, of course; and CEDEPCA, who plans the trip and who provides us with the safety and security precautions critical to a successful trip.  Dr. Cherie Clark, a psychology professor and veteran of three mission trips, is your first contact should an emergency arise.  Her cell phone and work phone are listed below.  She knows how to contact us through CEDEPCA, so please call Dr. Clark first should you need to contact someone in our group.  She has all our vital information and can get in touch with us in any situation.  Her contact information is as follows:

Again, Dr. Clark is the first contact in the event of an emergency.

CEDEPCA, our organizing group in Guatemala, has been hosting mission groups in Guatemala for two decades.  A ministry of the Presbyterian Church, USA, they developed our itinerary, and they provide two people who live and work in Guatemala to travel with our group during our time in Guatemala.  This year we are working with Karla Kroll  (a Presbyterian Missionary) and Rick Ufford (an employee of CEDEPCA).  The numbers listed below are for the CEDEPCA Office and for their Directors’ home phones; they know how to reach our group when we are in the field.  (While you might be tempted to call them first, please contact Cherie Clark first should an emergency arise.)

We have also purchased emergency travel insurance.  This insurance provides us with the means and methods should we need to leave Guatemala quickly because of some unforeseen events.  We, of course, do not anticipate such emergencies occurring, but we like to be prepared for any development.

We will also be in regular contact with people at Queens as we are able, and they will send out e-mail updates.  The information on our activities will also be posted on our website when we are in towns with internet access.  These updates will be found at http://www.queens.edu/guatemala.

Although our program is not an official Queens Belk International Program, the director, Dr. William Thompson, assesses the level of risk to students for all international students and programs.  His office continually monitors conditions across the world and makes recommendations, in conjunction with our President, Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the Dean of Arts and Sciences, to continue or cancel any program.  He has assured us that, at this time, the risk to students on our trip is minimal.  He is very conservative in these assessments — as are we.  We share a policy that, “if I would not send my own daughter or son on the program in question, then I won’t send someone else’s child.”

Dr. Mark Kelso and Ms. Shawn Bowers, the other two advisors, join me in expressing our gratitude for your support.  Please continue to keep us and our Guatemala friends in your prayers.

Peace,

Rev. Dr. Diane Mowrey, Chaplain