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.
​
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.
​
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,
​
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.
​
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
​
Contact
Timothy Mooney – Café el Zapote President
Email: 107mukiibi@gmail.com
Phone: (515) 715-3584
​
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.
​
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
​
​
** 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
​​
** Program is limited to 12 participants, so act quickly! **
​
SIGN UP TODAY!
Uganda 2025
Program Overview
The 2025 trip is designed for adults and students. The trip is scheduled for November 15-26, with an option to extend to November 29th. The objective is to provide an immersion experience in rural Uganda while assisting Three Crosses Primary School in Kagadi 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. Three Crosses Primary School is located near Kagadi in western Uganda. Participants will also spend a day and night in Murchison Falls National Park and visit a coffee farm. The trip will conclude in Jinja, with options to extend through Thanksgiving 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.
​​
​​
Trip Details
Dates: November 15-26, 2025 (May extend to November 29)
Participant Capacity: 24 people
Estimated Total Cost: $3,000-$3,400
​
Contact
Timothy Mooney – Café el Zapote President
Email: 107mukiibi@gmail.com
Phone: (515) 715-3584
​
Itinerary
November 16: Arrive in Entebbe
November 17: Bus from Entebbe to Kagadi (4-5 hour journey)
November 18-19: Stay in Kagadi, work on school project
November 20-21: Murchison Falls National Park visit
November 22: Return to Kagadi, continue school project
November 23: Visit local coffee farm
November 24: Bus to Jinja (4-5 hour journey)
November 25: 1-2 hour drive from Jinja to Entebbe; Relax by the pool in Entebbe; Prepare for midnight flight
November 26: Arrive in the U.S. early afternoon
Optional Extension:
November 26: White water rafting on the Nile River. Mooney said, “It’s safer than walking around in Des Moines at night.”**
Return flight according to individual schedule
​
Volunteer Service
School Construction: 3-4 days working with local community members
Location: Three Crosses Primary School near Kagadi, Western Uganda
Activities: Mixing cement, carrying bricks, collaborative construction work
Recreational Activities
White water rafting on the Nile River
Visit to schools in Iganga District
Tour of Iowa State's Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in Kamuli
Cost Breakdown
$1,000: Meals, water, lodging, transportation, national park visit
$1,000: Building materials for primary school
$1,000-1,400: Airfare from Chicago/Minneapolis
Option to purchase your own ticket.
​
Registration Requirements
-
Passport valid through June 2026
-
$1,000 deposit to Café el Zapote
-
Purchase personal visa ($50)
-
Recommended vaccinations from travel clinic
​​
​
** 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.
​
​
SIGN UP TODAY!
-
Contact Mooney
-
Email Mooney​ with a picture of your passport photo page
-
Passport must be valid through June 2026
-
-
-
Submit Deposit
-
Write a $1,000 check to Café el Zapote
-
Mail to: Café el Zapote P.O. Box 2294, Ames, Iowa 50010
-
-
-
Book Travel
-
Purchase your own ticket or have Mooney book it by November 15th
-
Current fare is about $974 from O'Hare
-
TIP: Book early for the best prices
-
-
Visa Requirements
-
Purchase Uganda entry visa ($50)
-
Apply online HERE
-
Visa process typically takes 2-3 working days
-
-
Health Preparations
-
Check CDC travel recommendations HERE​​
-
Schedule vaccinations at McFarland Clinic's Travel Clinic
-
Recommended: Yellow Fever vaccination certificate
-
** Program is limited to 24 participants, so act quickly! **