Support the 2026 Belen Youth Missions

4/14/2026

Mirna Menéndez | BYM Coordinator
 

This summer, 60 Belen Jesuit rising seniors will participate in the Belen Youth Missions (BYM) from June 26 through July 5, and we need your help to reach our $72,000 goal. Click here to read more about BYM and to donate to their efforts.

The mission is to build an aqueduct for the people of La Cuchilla, which serves the area of Santiago, Jánico, comprising 3 communities and home to 360 families in the Dominican Republic. The work will be done in conjunction with our partners at the Institute for Latin American Concern (ILAC), and the team will be led by Belen Jesuit President, Fr. Guillermo “Willie” M. García-Tuñón, S.J., Ed.D., ’87.

Belen students will be joined by faculty and alumni on this endeavor. The students will be doing the heavy lifting and tremendous hard work of digging and laying 7.4 miles of pipe and building three water tanks (1 of 20,000 gallons, 2 of 15,000 gallons).

“The missionaries will undoubtedly complete the project because they know that surrounding communities will benefit from their labor, and in true Ignatian fashion, the Magis will be on display during those hot summer days in the DR,” said Fr. Willie. 

During the mission trip, they will attend daily Mass, eat and live in community and have zero contact with any form of media. We ask that the community keep them in prayer before and during their journey, and we ask the Blessed Mother for her intercession to keep them safe. 

The old adage, “It takes a village,” applies here. It will take the “village” of Belen to come together to help our students live our mantra, “Men for Others.” The commissioning Mass will be held on Wednesday, June 24, at 7 p.m. in the Our Lady of Belen Chapel.