Service Immersion in Guatemala

For nine days in July, 20 Jesuit students accompanied by three chaperones returned to Guatemala, where they renewed a phenomenal annual service immersion mission trip.

The Jesuit contingent reconnected for the fourth consecutive year with the children of Orfanato Valle de Los Angeles – the Valley of the Angels orphanage on the outskirts of the capital, Guatemala City, the largest city in Central America. The facility serves at-risk youth, many who have endured horrible trauma, by providing them with safety, schooling, medical and psychological support, and an invitation to follow Jesus.

The Jesuit students followed in the footsteps of their brothers from the previous three summers, as the Guatemala mission trip has become an annual highlight of Jesuit's summer service immersion experiences. In addition to connecting daily with the children of the orphanage, the students worked each morning on landscaping projects and facility maintenance, assisted the dental and medical clinic, prepared meals, led daily tutoring and homework sessions, and celebrated Mass.

Led by Jesuit teachers/chaperones Nayvi Hernandez, and Guillermo Diaz, along with school president Fr. Vincent Giacabazi, S.J., the students also explored the rich history of the region and sharpened their Spanish-speaking skills.

The 'Men for Others' who uplifted the Valley of the Angels from July 6-15 this summer were Pablo Cooney '27, Ignacio Duarte ’28, Jaime Flores-Sanchez ’27, Javier Garcia ’28, Vincent Garcia ’27, Nate Hernandez ’27, Bryce Holeman ’27, Andrew Iler ’27, Octavio Johnson Rodriguez ’28, Aiden Koford ’27, Gavin Kuo ’27, Kolt Ohlson ’27, Jael Patino ’28, David Perez ’27, Matthew Perez ’28, Jayden Perez Dorantes ’28, Ricardo Prieto ’27, Rafael Robertson-Brown ’28, Alexander Schellman ’27, and Mateo Sierra ’28, along with chaperones Hernandez, Diaz, and Fr. Giacabazi.

On August 28, Cooney, who made back-to-back mission trips to Guatemala, spoke to the student body about his experience at Convocation. Below is a transcript of his presentation, and click here to view the video of Cooney.

Guatemala Mission Trip 2026 - Pablo Cooney '27

Good morning, my name is Pablo Cooney, and I am a senior here at Jesuit. This summer I went on the mission trip to Guatemala, more specifically to an orphanage called Valle de los Angeles.

Honestly, this Convocation is difficult for me because I could go many ways with this, in terms of what message I want to leave you all with. I learned a lot on this trip. I grew as a person in ways I could go on and on about. But I will mention the ones I think are personally important, and that we can relate to and apply in our daily lives.

This is my second time going on the Guatemala mission trip. Two years ago, when I heard about the mission trip to Guatemala, my thought was "no." An immediate "no." I thought mission trips were just going to Mass every day and visiting churches, and that idea sounded really boring to me. But, I am forever thankful for my mom making me go the first time, and the second time ended up being even better.

I had a few friends that I was pretty close with prior to the trip this year. Alexander, Iggy, Rico, Kolt and ... I guess Jaime. When I first went last year I remember stepping foot in the building at the orphanage, where everyone gathers to eat and do homework, and just seeing the smiles on the kids' faces.

You were immediately greeted with hugs and waves from everyone. After taking the time to meet the kids, I learned that some of them were going to a different school the next year or graduating and going to work.

So going into this summer’s trip, it was honestly going to be a surprise because I didn’t really know what to expect. Are kids going to remember me from last year? Is it even going to be the same group of kids? Are they going to be just as friendly?

Now that Mr. Ruiz (Guillermo Ruiz, Jesuit's assistant disciplinarian) is going … oof … is this going to be a miserable time?

The moment I knew that this trip was going to be special was when, upon arrival, the Friar, Luisa, who ran the orphanage remembered me immediately.

On top of that, as soon as I saw the kids they all started shouting my name. I felt welcomed and it reminded me that we were here for a unique purpose.

Our day-to-day consisted of eating breakfast from around 7-8 a.m., and working till 12. Whether that meant chopping logs, painting trees, pressure washing floors, or even working in a bakery.

It was honestly fun not really knowing what your assignment was for that day. After work and lunch you had the whole rest of the day to connect with the kids and just spend time with them. Sometimes just spending time with people shows that they are important.

They would ask you questions, as simple as what’s your favorite color? Barcelona or Madrid? And sometimes maybe more in-depth ones like what do you do with your family day-to-day? Or where have you travelled and why did you go there?

I could honestly go on and on about what we did every day because every day was so different and full of memories. But surprisingly, the moment where I stopped and remembered saying “wow” in my head, happened during a conversation between me and one of the boys, David. It took place during the last 15-20 minutes of the trip before boarding the bus to head to the airport to travel back to Tampa.

David was probably a little over 4-feet tall, he gave my legs a hug because he couldn’t reach much higher, and he held out his pinky, for a pinky promise.

He looked at me and said, “Pablo, I promise to God that when I turn 18, I will leave my family behind, become a missionary, travel to Florida and look for the Jesuit sign to come and visit you and all your friends, and meet up with you to show you I made it and completed my dream.”

This was the moment I realized our group as a whole, had come to Valle de los Angeles, and had made a forever lasting impact on these children.

My main mission at the beginning of this mission trip was to leave with no regrets. I didn’t want to leave Guatemala and think, I wish I would’ve done this or that. I didn’t want to look back at this trip or these kids and wish I had given more. I wanted to experience this trip to the fullest, and many other guys on the trip wanted the same, and they lived it out.

As horrible as a dancer Kolt Ohlson is, he got in there and gave it all he had, just to make the kids laugh and make memories with them.

These moments that I experienced with my brothers and the kids we served, changed my image of mission trips. Before this trip I thought that pilgrimages and mission trips were just boring sightseeing in far away churches, or opportunities to get service hours. But my encounter on this mission trip made me realize that the beauty of the Church is in its people.

Yes, we are giving to the people that we serve, but they are also giving love and hope to us. These buildings that we go into and these places we go to are made special because of the encounters with the people.

I saw Christ in my 15-minute interaction with David.

If you have an opportunity like this, whether it’s a mission trip or something similar, I strongly encourage you to give it a shot. And that feeling is something that I’ll forever be grateful to have experienced.

One last thing before we get on with our day, I want to touch back on “leave with no regrets” because that is one thing I still carry with me since Guatemala. We are blessed to be at a school like this, that gives us opportunities to be better men. So my final message to you guys is to take advantage of these opportunities and don’t let them go by. The last thing you want to do is to graduate Jesuit and to wish you would’ve done this or that, so do it.

God bless and let’s have a good day. Thank you.