Immersion Programs
Why take an immersion visit?
A voluntourism trip to Honduras or Uganda is not a vacation, it’s better. It’s a visit to be with a real community in a developing country. Your insight and interpretation is formed not by the media but by your own eyes, ears and heart. A trip like this has the potential to reconfigure your perspective of the world and to refocus your life values.
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First, it allows you to unplug from your current responsibilities, duties and daily regimen. Interactions with local people in these rural settings reveal a pace of life that moves much slower and is oriented more toward relationships than productivity. You may even re-evaluate your own commitment to productivity in light of the cost to your relationships.
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Second, a trip like this allows long uninterrupted conversations with family, friends or traveling companions. Our society and our fast paced schedules afford very little of this. This deprivation is straining our relationships, our mental health and our communities. Time spent this way is an investment that could deepen bonds with family and friends,
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Finally, rural communities in developing world countries have a lot to teach us. We lack what they have, rich community life, leisure time, conversational skills and the ability to live content and peaceful lives that are not entirely dependent on material things. This experience could potentially linger in your memory for the rest of your life.
HONDURAS IMMERSION VISIT 2026
Program Overview
The Immersion visit to Dulce Nombre de Copan and the Dulce Nombre de Maria Parish is intended for students (16 and over) and adults. The 2026 trip is scheduled for March 13-21. The visit is designed to provide an immersion experience with the coffee farmers community in the village of Zapote and the Dulce Nombre de Maria Parish in the town of Dulce Nombre de Copan. Immersion means listening, observing and learning from the community, faith and culture of our hosts.
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Participants will spend 3 days in the coffee farms learning about every phase of coffee production. Another 3 days will include meals with local parish members and immersion in various parish activities. A one day visit to the colonial city of Santa Rosa de Copan and a one day excursion to the ancient Mayan Copan Ruins are included in the itinerary.
Trip Details
Dates: March 13–21, 2026
Estimated Total Cost: $1,400
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Contact
Timothy Mooney – Café el Zapote President
Email: 107mukiibi@gmail.com
Phone: (515) 715-3584
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Itinerary
March 13: Fly to San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The host Parish will provide vehicles and drivers to take us from the airport to Dulce Nombre de Copan.
March 14-16: Visits to homes of Parishioners, visits to the sick and homebound, assisting in the clean up of a playground area and a 3 mile walk observing the stations of the cross ending at a nearby village church.
March 17-19: We will stay in the homes of coffee farmers in el Zapote. Tour the Coffee farms and learn about how coffee is grown, harvested and processed. Also have meetings with the Coffee coop representatives.
March 20: Visit Copan Ruins near Copan Ruinas town.
March 21: Travel back to Iowa.
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Cost Breakdown
$900: Airfare from Kansas City to San Pedro Sula
$430: Meals, lodging, and fuel for transportation
$35: Coffee Tours
$35: Copan Ruins Entrance fee and Guide
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** Note: Because Cafe el Zapote is a non-profit 501c3, all donations are tax deductible. Please consider doing some fundraising to involve family and friends and to help cover the cost of your trip. Contact Tim Mooney 515-715-3584 or 107mukiibi@gmail.com
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** Program is limited to 12 participants, so act quickly! **
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SIGN UP TODAY!
Uganda 2026
Program Overview
The 2026 trip is designed for adults and students. The trip is scheduled for November 14-28, with an option to return home for Thanksgiving. The objective is to provide an immersion experience in rural Uganda while assisting Middle Cross Primary School in a village near Kagadi, Uganda with a construction project. The trip is open to participants 16 years and older, with CEZ hoping to have a group of 24 participants.
​The trip will include 3 days on the school site working with local community members, mixing cement, pushing wheelbarrows, and carrying bricks. Middle Cross Primary School is located near Kagadi in western Uganda. Participants will also spend a day and night in Murchison Falls National Park and visit CEZ coffee partners. The trip will include Jinja, with the option to white water raft the Nile River, visit a school from a previous project in Iganga District, or tour Iowa State's Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods facility in Kamuli.
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Trip Details
Dates: November 14-28, 2026
Participant Capacity: 24 people
Cost: $2,500 plus your airfare (between $1,200-$1,800 depending on your origin)
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​Proposed Itinerary
November 15: Arrive in Entebbe
November 16: Bus from Entebbe to Kagadi (4-5 hour journey)
November 17-20: Stay in Kagadi, work on school project
November 21-22: Murchison Falls National Park visit
November 23: Bus to Jinja (4-5 hour journey)
November 24: (Option to end trip early and return to the U.S. for Thanksgiving.)
November 24-26: Optional Activities in Jinja include: White water rafting on the Nile River, visit to primary schools in Iganga District, or CEZ Coffee partners, tour of Iowa State's Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in Kamuli, or, just Relax, shop, enjoy Jinja, Uganda, Lake Victoria and the source of the Nile River.
November 27: Travel to Entebbe. (It is a 1-2 hour drive from Jinja to Entebbe; Relax by the pool in Entebbe; Prepare for midnight flight) November 28: Arrive in the U.S. early afternoon.
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Volunteer Service
School Construction: 3-4 days working with local community members
Location: Middle Cross Primary School near Kagadi, Western Uganda
Activities: Mixing cement, carrying bricks, collaborative construction work
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Cost Breakdown
$1,500: Meals, water, lodging, transportation, national park visit
$1,000: Building materials for primary school
$1,200-$1,800: Airfare from Chicago/Minneapolis
Option to purchase your own ticket or Mooney can purchase for you.
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​Registration Requirements
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Passport valid through June 2027
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$1,000 deposit to Café el Zapote
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Purchase personal visa ($50)
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Recommended vaccinations from travel clinic
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Contact, Questions
Timothy Mooney – Café el Zapote Coffee & Trips Coordinator
Email: 107mukiibi@gmail.com
Phone: (515) 715-3584​
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** Note: As a 501(c)3 non-profit, Café el Zapote, all donations are tax-deductible. Please ask if your employer will match your donation to Café el Zapote. It could cut the cost of your trip in half.