Soccer & Nico

It was a last minute decision, but God was with me as I scrambled looking for youth in my community who could pass on school for 3 days to attend a conference on DIVERSITY. Yes, I guess it’s good sign that most parents did not want their kids absent 2 weeks into classes, and yes, the big ¨D¨ word DIVERSITY, arises all around the world.

Now that the conference has passed I can honestly say that without a healthy serving of fun and team building exercises learning would be as dull and bland as over-cooked cabbage. I am always looking to see how kids learn outside their community, outside of their comfort zones, interacting with ¨strangers.¨ I am still developing a sense of trust with those who have ever never left the fringes of this town, San Jose de Las Matas, and I am still very much a foreigner when I try to describe the world outside the island of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. I cannot talk with university level vocabulary, so I connect games to ideas and draw messages and lessons from there. A deck of cards can go a long way as well as any random ball. It´s called KID Oubre trying to be PROF Oubre.

In the mountains of Jarabacoa it was the soccer ball that brought forth a million smiles. Never have I found Dominican boys to be so enthusiastic about playing the worlds sport of futbol. Six thirty every morning was the knock on my door, 6:35 we were on the beautiful field taking wacks at the ball. We played straight for one hour and twenty five minutes before 8AM breakfast, stopping the game only to drop the kids for ¨dame 10 lagartillas¨ (give me 10 push-ups), if they touched the ball with their hands. Prayer before breakfast was said sweating, fresh off the field. I told myself I was back at summer camp… actually, that was my goal!

So another highlight included becoming closer with Nico, a good friend I met playing soccer in Batey Libertad. He’s Haitian-Dominican and receives a fair amount of discrimination from the National Police when traveling to and from his community. He quickly became a role model at the conference with his speed and flash on the soccer field as well as when her took the floor in front of some 45 Dominican youth to share some very real stories about growing up in the DR as a dark skinned boy. Racial discrimination is pretty blatant here in the DR despite the fact that almost everyone is mulato and has some sort of African blood in them. I mean no too long ago this island of Hispaniola was a destination for most slaves heading to the New World. Anyways, at 21 years of age Nico is well educated, understands why he should continue pursuing his passion of soccer, and at the same time study to realize his dream of being a qualified elementary school teacher. If there is one youth I’ve worked with whose story I find incredibly intriguing, it is this young mans. He´s been hauled by the Dominican authorities to the border of Haiti and the DR with his local soccer team of Haitian decent, only to be left there to sleep on the floor of the bus station. The Police said they did not ¨believe¨ their Dominican birth certificates and ID cards to be “real.”

The story of immigration is incredibly interesting here in the DR. It is the only open border in the world, allowing Dominicans and Haitians to walk freely across the border exchanging clothes, jewelry, corn, sugar, beans, goats… you name it. And amid all this exchange there is an unacceptable racial inequality that loudly exposes itself. I want to understand how we can tackle this issue as a Dominican and Haitian Community. Nico was born in the Dominican Republic. He is Dominican. But most Dominicans do not treat him with respect because he looks Haitian. Why is that? I want to understand racism in 2010 in the DR.

Meanwhile I play soccer with Dominican and Haitians and it brings us together!

Go play the sport you grew up playing. It might just be more refreshing than eating watermelon.

Peace,
Jared