By Caitlin McHale | Project Overseer
This summer we went back to practicing 3 times a week. We were in a drought and the Poli Deportivo field we used to play on was completely dry! Leche, the field manager, was not allowing anyone play on it. So we played at a field some community members had made themselves right by a resort. It does't have grass, but a dusty gravel. By the end of the summer, the rain started coming and we have since been able to play on the big field some!
Kits for Causes, an organization in the UK, donated 40 sets of cleats and shin guards. A few donors then chipped in to help out with shipping, first to New York City, and then here to Puerto Plata. They were over six months in route, and finally made it to us mid summer! This was perfect, because we require that players come to at least three practices before receiving their cleats. Also, Pace Academy in Atlanta, GA sent literally hundreds of gym shorts and shirts which we have given to our players to practice in. They are very nice quality!
Stephan, a man from Belgium in the area, is passionate about organization games in the absence of a real league, so he has set up several games for us. He is also adament that players stick to their age groups so we have been trying to get a copy of everyone's birth certificate, but many do not have it.
Through a relationship with a local non-profit called Integracion Juvenil, our players have been able to attend karate practice 4 times a week as welll, for free! We provided transportation the first day to show them where it is, and the most interested have been walking ever since. It is quite a walk, but they want to do it! I am so glad that we were able to provide them with more recreation, since during the school year we only practice once a week.
Thank you always for your support!
Links:
By Caitlin McHale | Project Overseer
By Caitlin McHale | Project Overseer
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
