The World is Not Morris County

Then–Headmaster Br. Paul Diveny connected with his former student Stefan Howells ’86, director of Sports Coaches Outreach in Cape Town.

In 1998, after decades of service to the Abbey and Delbarton, Abbot Brian Clarke took a sabbatical in Ireland and Jerusalem. St. Mary’s Abbey, Abbot Brian Clarke described sabbaticals as “wonderful opportunities to refresh and renew” as he embarked on his sabbatical in Ireland and Jerusalem. In summer 2002, Fr. Benet Caffrey walked the 500-mile Road to Santiago de Compostela on an historic pilgrimage that originated in Spain during the Middle Ages. For decades, Delbarton alumnus Abbot Giles Hayes ’56 hosted a clothing and gift drive on campus, then accompanied the majority of the junior class to Appalachia for the delivery. Hurricane Sandy in October, 2012 shifted our focus to more local needs and our gift drive now partners with Catholic Charities in Paterson to help families closer to home. Today, Delbarton students and teachers still travel to Appalachia each spring on a community service mission to assist at Bethlehem Farm.

Over the years, we’ve added cultural and language exchange programs to Australia, Ireland, Germany, France, Peru and Spain. Soccer Coach David Donovan takes his team to Italy and South America to train – this August they’ll be in Argentina and Uruguay. Delbarton has built houses in Guatemala, delivered technology and books to Benedictine schools in Kenya, and assisted on Operation Smile medical missions around the world. Packing the Green Wave flag has become a tradition, and current families and alumni share their flag photos with us from sites around the world. We also encourage students and alumni to submit Global Delbarton articles and photos to Delbarton magazine, hoping to inspire others to

broaden their horizons. Delbarton is committed to introducing our students to the world outside our 187-acre campus, and we challenge every student to have a global experience before he graduates; Financial aid is made available when cost is an issue.

Delbarton sees travel as a significant teaching tool. We learn more about ourselves and others by leaving our comfort zones behind: Pack light, get dirty, be exhausted, try new foods, survive without wifi, struggle with a language, turn a stranger into a friend. We’ve learned that not everyone has a roof or shoes, or can afford clothes and toys for their children. We’ve tried to help. We’ve also experienced the pure adventure of travel, sampling new cuisines, zip lining in Finland, dune-buggy-ing in Peru, pitching a tent in Jordan, floating lazily in a hot air balloon above French farmland. These Global Delbarton trips are rare privileges that we never take for granted. They open our eyes, minds and hearts. They change us. Director of Global Programs Dan Pieraccini, a veteran adventurer, models this desire to experience life in all its richness through travel. In late February 2020, in a bold move that reflects its risk-taking ethos, Delbarton sent students to Finland and France on

In Kenya in 2015, teachers Zach Tabor and Brian Theroux and students made bricks from clay and helped with a building project.

Conor White, right, on an Operation Smile medical mission in Amman, Jordan.