Iona students, staff and faculty participated in six Iona in Mission immersion trips during Winter Break this past January. Of these six mission trips, one was the first-ever Iona alumni immersion trip. Alumni, who graduated anywhere between 2009 and 2016, traveled to Cape Town, South Africa partnering with the Edmund Rice Justice Desk, an advocacy group for human rights affiliated with the Christian Brothers. The trip was coordinated by Dr. John Breslin, associate professor in the Mass Communication department, and Stephen Hill, coordinator of Iona in Mission.

Having moderated four past Iona mission trips, three of which were to Africa, Breslin was no stranger to the planning of the alumni trip. Breslin, “wanted to develop an opportunity for alumni to continue participating in the Iona mission.” Breslin credits Hill with making the trip happen.

“Through Alumni Relations and Advancement, we contacted alumni, particularly those who had previously participated in mission trips,” Breslin said.

Hill has partnered with Jessica Dewhurst, the director of the Edmund Rice Justice Desk in Cape Town, on previous projects and knew her organization would be ideal to host an immersion trip.

“Many alums pestered me for a couple years about beginning an Iona in Mission alumni trip and along with Dr. Breslin’s passion [those] were the driving forces to make this vision a reality,”said.

Thirty-four applications from alumni for the trip were received. Many other past Iona students also expressed interest and wanted to apply for the trip but were unable to get time off from work. To select the team, a lottery system was devised.

“All the applicants were very involved in our work while students and could have been great on the team. We were blessed of having a team of eleven out of which ten were Iona in Mission trip leaders as undergraduates,” Hill said. Breslin added that the alumni group, “were an all-star team-full of motivation, wanting to learn, and willing to share with everyone we met.”

To plan for the trip “the group met twice before the immersion to build community, learn about South African culture and history, engage the social justice issues they would encounter, and prepare logistically,” according to Hill. Currently, steps are being taken as to how the group will engage the Iona community with their post-immersion action steps.

Each day of the trip to Cape Town focused on a different theme. The alumni group visited and assisted with Cape Town non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) involved in healthcare, human trafficking, refugees and education. At each site, the alumni were given a briefing of the particular group’s mission. They “shadowed the workers, which involved meeting those they helped, refugees seeking status, health care patients, students or exiting prostitutes,” Breslin said.

One specific NGO that the group met was the Pebbles Project, which focuses on educating farm children in outlying areas. Gabrielle Witt, ’13 states that the organization, “traveled to the children on the farms in these incredible vans, each equipped with a different aspect of education, whether it be library and reading skills or technology and research based skills.”

Another NGO was the Scalabrini Center, which is a center for refugees. According to Witt, “we met some refugees from Angola, who were all working to make South Africa their new home because of the violence that they had going on in their own country.”

The alumni group stayed at a Christian Brother’s retreat house in Stellenbosch and the Scalabrini Center in Cape Town, in which there was time for reflection, prayer, and debriefing of the experiences. “Our hosts-three incredible ladies-certainly challenged us to become justice advocates and find ways to continue our mission back home,” Breslin said.

The group also visited historic sites, such as Robben Island with Nelson Mandela’s cell and the South African Parliament Complex, the national parks of the Cape of Good Hope, Boulders National Park with African penguins, and Table Mountain. The group was also treated to a wine tasting hosted by a “son of the soil,” who told of his personal story from working as a field hand to becoming the manager of a major winery’s tasting room.

For John Petrullo, ’12, the alumni trip was different from his immersion trips as an undergraduate.

“With other trips, we worked with one organization or on a task that took up our whole trip. Here, we were able to touch on something new every day,” Petrullo said. “This trip was about justice and fighting for what is right. It is that sometimes uncomfortable feeling that you get when you see something wrong and the steps you take to try and solve it-advocating, peaceful protest, expressing your anger, excitement, worries, and hopes to fight the good fight!”

Ashley Smith, ’09, felt that the trip was rewarding.

“I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet with and work with the Edmund Rice Justice Desk and the NGO’s they work with in South Africa,” Smith said. “We have so much to learn from each other, despite being an ocean apart.”

Although the eleven recent alumni are all at different points in their lives and have different careers, Petrullo said that, “we bonded over our common connection with Iona, Edmund Rice, and our desire to change the world.” In addition, the coordinators who grew up in Cape Town, “all had the same experience and connection with Edmund Rice as we were taught at Iona.”

Group Leader, Christina Closius, ’11, wished that there would be more mission trips in the future. “Mission work is so important to me, and it was wonderful to experience another trip with alumni from the Iona family!” Closius said.

Petrullo said that he would absolutely love to be in another alumni mission trip.

“Being able to embark on this journey with fellow Gaels strengthens my bond with Iona and the Christian Brothers,” Petrullo said.