26 Canisius High School Today
Compañeros ProgramMission
To offer the student an opportunity to respond to the Ignatian call to
service. He is invited to grow in self-knowledge through an international
experience of service to and solidarity with the marginalized. A personal
encounter with communities and individuals bearing the weight of poverty,
weakness, and financial dependence, challenges a young man to under-
stand these conditions while acknowledging the poverty implicit in his own
weaknesses, shortcomings, and dependence. Likewise, the companion-
ship of this encounter affirms the goodness and potential implicit in his
strengths. Drawing upon four central components of community, spiritual-
ity, justice, and simple living, Compañeros engages the Gospel message
while challenging the student to embrace struggle and discomfort in an
unfamiliar, immersive, cross-cultural context. The program seeks to foster
an ongoing desire to serve the needs of the other, coupled with a lifelong
commitment to justice.”
Compañeros Immersions
July 2012:
El Faro,
Dominican Republic
February 2012:
Chacalapa,
Nicaragua
July 2011:
El Faro,
Dominican Republic
February 2011:
Rivas, Nicaragua
July 2009:
Dojima,
Dominican Republic
J
uly 2008:
La Norita,
Dominican Republic
March 2008:
El Papayo,
Dominican Republic
Companions Immersions
June 2012:
Newburgh, N.Y.
April 2012:
Concord, S.C.
February 2012:
Punta Gorda, Fla.
August 2011:
Erie, Penn.
Spring Break 2011:
Slidell, La.
Spring Break 2011:
Biloxi, Miss.
Spring Break 2011:
Newburgh, N.Y.
Spring Break, 2010:
Gulf Port, Ala.
Spring Break 2010:
San Antonio, Tx.
Spring Break 2010:
Newburgh, N.Y.
August 2010:
Erie, Penn.
June 2010:
Buffalo, N.Y.
June 2009
: Erie, Penn.
April 2009:
Laredo, Tx.;
Newburgh, N.Y.
March 2008:
Newburgh, N.Y.
July 2007
: Laredo, Tx.
way further” was his favorite expres-
sion) up to the mountains to the vil-
lage of La Norita. We were welcomed
into the humble, yet meticulously
maintained, home of Rafael Placensia*
upon our arrival there. What can only
be described as a feast had been laid
out for us even though we arrived late
at night. Right about this time, I recog-
nized that it would have been a good
idea to take Spanish in high school
because not too many people in the
Dominican Republic speak Latin.
Actually seeing and driving and
walking on David’s bridge was a con-
flicting time for me. I felt a series of
emotions washing over me—wonder-
ment at what the Canisius students
and the villagers had built, anger and
sadness that David was not there to
see it as well and, finally, a sense of
peace knowing that his contribution
to the world had been remembered
in a tangible way. I have no doubt that
this bridge was the gravestone David
would have wanted, primarily be-
cause it was a gravestone that served a
purpose in helping the less fortunate.
PC:
It was a very powerful experience,
seeingnephewanduncle visitingDavid’s
bridge. Late at night as we were leav-
ing, Chris and Pat took some time and
sat on the tailgate on the bridge, listen-
ing to river and thinking about David,
two generations of alumni on what is,
in many ways, the other side of world.
It’s a wonder to see something that had
started so small is so entrenched now at
the school.
✠
Editor’s note: Rafael Placensia is
a long-time friend of Paul Cumbo
who has served as coordinator,
project foreman and liaison on all
Canisius’s Dominican projects with the
Dominican-administered Institute for
Latin American Concern (ILAC). Canisius
works in conjunction with ILAC, which
is affiliated with Creighton University
in Omaha, on all its Dominican service
projects.
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