GCFH in the Dominican Republic

Our trip to the Dominican Republic as a field hockey team was focused on a verse that many of us had heard before: “She is clothed in strength and dignity, and laughs without fear of the future” (Proverbs 31:25). A week spent with the girls in the village of Cercadillo not only changed this verse for me, but reinforced what it means to be a strong woman of God. The vision for our trip to the Dominican began with Marta Peralta, a Gordon alum who wanted to bring field hockey to Cercadillo. We first met with Marta back in the fall and she explained that the young women in Cercadillo are often lost in a culture that is primarily focused on the men. Field hockey could be something that might give the girls confidence as they could take pride in a sport that would specifically be for them. Marta also mentioned that there was a chance that the girls might not be interested in field hockey at all, and would never use the sticks, balls, shin guards, and mouth guards again after we left. Although this was a definite possibility because field hockey is a strange sport (why can you only use one side of the stick, anyways?), we hoped for the best and started to plan.

After months of organizing, planning, fundraising, and then a few frantic moments of packing on New Year’s Eve, all twenty-two of us left for the airport. Although leaving on January 1^st was a little crazy in terms of holiday plans and traveling back to the Boston area, it seemed perfect to start of the New Year with our trip to the DR. We had a few days to relax and prepare for the upcoming week when we would start the field hockey camp. Field hockey would be in the morning, then three stations in the afternoon: a Bible study, English “class,” and crafts.

Twenty-three girls signed up for the camp and we all gathered at the field, passing out longer sticks to the taller girls even though they all wanted the shorter, hot pink sticks. We then paired them off to pass with each other. I’ve worked at the field hockey summer camp at Gordon for the past three years and I think that field hockey is difficult to explain sometimes, even in English. I quickly realized that none of my mediocre Spanish vocabulary had prepared me for field hockey instructions: “Hold your stick like this,” “Put your feet like this,” “This is how you can stop the ball.” I gave up and eventually I found myself making small talk about the weather, using one of the few phrases I could remember from seventh grade Spanish class. I’d wave my hand around and say, “Hace mucho calor!” The girls would nod in agreement, sometimes giggling at my awful Spanish – probably wondering why this American girl could only say “It is very hot.” Thankfully, we had Marta, her husband, Esteban, and their friend, Jonatán, to translate and help us coach.

On the second day of camp, we were all taking a water break when we turned around to see the girls organizing teams, switching their pinnies around, and then they began to play a game without our help. This was probably one of the most encouraging moments on the trip and it seemed as though they would continue playing after we left. Sometimes we would scrimmage with the girls, sometimes we would let them scrimmage each other. They would run over for water, quickly talking to each other and then run back onto the field. We would ask Marta, “What are they saying?” and she told us that they were talking about how much they loved field hockey already.

I think there’s something so interesting about how participating in sports is not only helpful in terms of learning commitment, dedication, and discipline, but there is something so important about gaining self-confidence from playing a sport. Field hockey has definitely been a huge part of my life in terms of self-esteem and confidence, and the greatest joy on this trip was to be able to share something that has given me confidence with the young women of Cercadillo. Sometimes short-term missions trips are challenging in the sense that it is difficult to see long-term change in just a week. It’s hard to feel like you’re making a difference or that the work you’re doing is even worth anything. Will these young women continue to play field hockey for years to come? Maybe. We hope so. But more importantly, we hope that Proverbs 31:25 will always serve as a reminder to them that strong woman can play sports, they can have strength and dignity, and they can laugh without fear of the future.