Jesuit Volunteers

Jesuit Volunteers International Program

The International Program of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps provides dedicated college graduates a two-year experience of direct service with the poor; formation as women and men who can work justly among various cultures; and living together as community among international neighbors. The Society of Jesus, the local Church, and other organizations have requested committed assistance for their work alongside and among the poor, and so JVI sends volunteers as partners in the local works and ministries of seven developing nations.

International JV staff maintains regular communication with JV communities, site supervisors, and in-country coordinators throughout the year. Staff members also visit JV placement sites and facilitate annual retreats with the JV communities.

Countries where Jesuit Volunteers serve

Belize, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nepal

Nicaragua, Peru, and Tanzania

The presence of JVs allows our partner organizations to use their financial resources not only to pay more local talented staff, but also to improve and expand their existing services. JV’s work, communities, and relationships reveal an often-different kind of international service (which we call accompaniment) alongside our neighbors. Countless Jesuits, partners, and friends have accepted these talented women and men to respond together with quality education and service, open and generous friendship, and thoughtful and compassionate faith.

Ministries in which Jesuit Volunteers serve

Teaching, Social Work, Pastoral Work

In addition to exploring other potential mission placements for

2009-2010, the JV international program is adding two new placements in 2008-2009 at a new site in Moshi, Tanzania. By expanding in our current regions as well as in new countries, we also build a wider network of former volunteers who can work responsibly among various cultures, who can promote community among many neighbors, and who make great differences through their families, friends, neighborhoods, cities, states, and perhaps even nations.

Some Current International JV Volunteers and Their Stories

Jesuit Volunteers have been invited to live, work, and learn where human beings are looked down upon, and where dignity is restored; where people are deprived of basic human rights, and where hard work might regain those rights; where families are even displaced from their homes, and where neighbors work together to raise new roofs.

Learn more:

Recent newsletters - Reflections on Jesuit Volunteers' work and formation: what they do, how and why they do it, and what others think about it

Being with Miss Dawn and her family gave me my first true experience of life for many Belizeans. I hope that I am one step closer to being an effective social worker and to understanding some of the obstacles that are commonplace here.

Kristen Schenk

Belize City, Belize