Stevie Jo Knapp's O Heroes Dominican Republic Journal
By Stevie Jo Knapp, Softball
If I could only use one word to describe the life changing experience 19 other student-athletes and I were blessed to be apart of in the Dominican Republic, it would be adversity.
From start to finish, this trip tossed adversity at us right and left, but we had such an amazing group of hard-working, determined and passionate athletes and staff that overcame every obstacle no matter what. Our goal was to build a sport court for the people of Batey 7 and we took that job seriously. That was why we had traveled so far, but it was everything surrounding that job that made it an incredible experience.
Looking back after the trip there are two moments that really stand out for me, but first I am going to take you through the day-by-day for us on the eight-day trip to the Domincan Republic.
The first day consisted of purely travel. It started at 2 a.m. at Autzen Stadium with a drive to Portland to make our 6 a.m. flight to New York City. Once we hit NYC, we had a seven-hour layover that consisted of sleep, card games, hair-braiding, hacky sack and way too much airport food! We then boarded our flight to Santo Domingo and arrived at 2 a.m.
As if a full 24 hours was not enough, the airline misplaced two key bags we needed in order to start the court we were building at Batey 7. So we packed 25 people in a bus (that surprisingly had the most amazing air conditioning) and tossed all our luggage in a little trailer hitched on the back and we drove 30 minutes to our hostel for the night. This hostel was the first of many tests for all of us as you could not use the sink water to brush your teeth, you could not flush toilet paper in the toilet and there was no air conditioning. Regardless, we all still got a good night’s sleep and continued our journey to Batey 7 the next day.
Morning arrived quickly and the minute we woke up, we were all hit by a wall of humidity and bugs. Who even knew we had so much sweat inside of us! We had a delicious breakfast of eggs, toast, jam and our choice of coffee or hot chocolate. After breakfast, we had two hours to spare before we had to head back to the airport to retrieve the two lost bags. We took advantage and walked to the shore of the Caribbean Sea that was about half a mile from our hostel. We enjoyed looking at the gorgeous teal blue water with our toes in the sand for about 30 minutes and then we were off to get the bags.
Once the bags were retrieved, we could finally start our four-hour bus ride out of Santo Domingo and into Batey 7. We had several stops on the way, including a drive-through fruit stand, the capital office for a bathroom break and gas fill-up and once more a stop at the local food court to fuel up for the rest of the drive. We arrived in Batey 7 around 7 p.m. after another long day of travel.
The second we drove up, though, the whole community was cheering, smiling, playing music and helping us unload everything because they were so excited the "Americanas" as they called us, were finally there! Next was preparing both the boys’ and girls’ rooms with foam mattresses, mosquito netting and killing every spider we saw! After we were all set and comfy in our pajamas, we ate a cheesy spaghetti dinner and met all the amazing men and women (including Marco, more on him later) who would take care of us during the week. Sleep was next on the list because starting in the morning, court building would begin.
The next five days were repetitive but so rewarding. We would wake up every morning around 7 a.m., eat a breakfast that consisted of eggs, bread rolls and sometimes freshly squeezed juice and then be out at the court by 8 a.m., ready to work. We worked extremely hard every day in our sun hats, sunglasses, work clothes, gloves and layers of sunscreen until about 12:30 p.m. when lunch was served. Lunch was always rice, beans and chicken plus sometimes a soda. (We even had ice sometimes too!)
After an hour lunch break we would be back at work until 8 p.m. Once all the machines, shovels, wheel barrels, cement and buckets were put away, we could all get cleaned up with a nice bucket shower. Those were always interesting because no matter how much you scrubbed and used your wipes before, that one bucket just didn't want to rid us of all the dirt and dust. Dinner consisted of some type of meat - either chicken or salami – plus plantains in different forms like mashed, boiled or friend and then some sort of vegetable, like onions or carrots. After everyone ate, we would have a group meeting to talk about how the day went, things we learned or observed and what the plan was for the next day. Once the team meeting finished, it was time to stay up late in the night with the whole group playing games like mafia, psychiatrist or writing in your journals. When midnight hit, everyone finally went off to bed, spraying layers of bug spray on hoping to get a good rest through the heat and the bugs.
Throughout those six work days, we faced many challenges we had to overcome in order to finish the court. We had machines break. We had long periods of waiting for supplies to arrive that halted our work. Sometimes certain things were not ready for us to work when we arrived in the morning. We didn’t even have our peace core volunteer for a bit because he was in the hospital! We were behind by a day right from the start but we kept at it. Despite every obstacle thrown at us, the whole group pulled through and come Friday morning when it came time for us to leave, we were 90 percent done with the court. That was pretty amazing considering this was the biggest court that had ever been built in the area and all the delays we faced during construction.
On our final night, one of the two moments that really stand out for me occurred. Marco was a community watcher, keeping tabs on us and the town at night. He sat next to the little church we were staying in and did not sleep once because he wanted to make sure we were all safe. On our final night in the Batey, Marco interrupted our group meeting because he had something to say. Of course he spoke Spanish so Xavi, an Oregon women’s basketball strength and conditioning coach, had to translate for us. Marco wanted us all to know that he prays for us every day and thanks God for blessing the community with us and that he did not want us to leave because we changed his life. The whole time Marco was telling us this he was crying because we changed his life that much. Seeing a 65-year-old man who was touched so deeply by our presence for only week just broke my heart. We were complete strangers to him but he cared for us like we were family. His speech on our final night couldn't help but make us all cry and be so grateful for the amazing human beings we met on this journey and the lives that we changed.
After a moment like that and the week of work we had put in, we were all sad to leave this amazing community without seeing the finished product complete. But we had high hopes the town would finish the court once we left and give the beautiful Batey 7 community something they deserved. We left for another four-hour drive back to the hostel we stayed at the first night and got to enjoy a day on the beach as a reward for all the hard work and passion we put into the court.
When our beach day came to an end, we came back to the hostel to a text saying the court was finished! We were all so relieved and happy knowing how much work we did and that we would be leaving the country with our main goal accomplished. The court was finished, our lives were all changed and we could leave this country with a positive, calm state of mind and a reflection on the unbelievable trip we were able to experience.
Looking back now I have a lot of pride in the work we accomplished. I also recall a moment that made me realize how powerful sports can be. We were all sitting on the court wall after we all realized we would not finish it ourselves and we were all depressed to say the least. As we were all sitting there, the nightly baseball game in the middle of town was going on between all the teenage boys. As one game was going on, there were two boys warming up their arms on the side for the next game. One ball was thrown over one of the boy’s head and the ball landed at my feet. When I picked up the ball, the boy wanted me to give it back and I told him, "No, it's OK, I can throw it back.” He started to laugh and said OK, but I should move up then and get closer. He didn’t think I could throw! After he said that, I laughed and backed up some instead. Once I backed up, I launched the ball over both boys and they looked at me with their jaws on the ground in pure amazement that a girl could be that powerful and throw a ball that far!
I ended up playing catch with them for a good 20 minutes as the sun went down and every time I said “uno mas,” it turned into way more than just one more toss! After I was finally done throwing with the boys and walking back to shower, I turned around to see a little girl ask to throw the ball and, shockingly, the boy gave her the ball without a problem and with a huge smile on his face. Before I threw with these boys, if a little girl asked to play baseball, or any sport for that matter, with the boys, they would laugh or ignore them. I changed that boy’s mindset of what girls can do and he was proud to let that little girl play. This was so amazing to me because different countries have such different ideas on women, their worth, and what they can do in this world. By me throwing with these boys, this worth was changed just enough to make a difference for a couple other girls and I am so blessed to have been a part of that.
On our trip to Batey 7, not only did we come together to build something great, but we learned a lot about ourselves, the world and what really matters in this crazy life we all live. We hope that we changed the lives of all the children in Batey 7, because they certainly changed our lives. The whole group cannot thank the university, Courts for Kids and everyone who donated to make this trip possible because it was a trip that was unforgettable, full of amazing memories and changed everyone's life for the better.
