Bienvenidos!
Son los liders del dia (leaders of the day) Kayla y Morgan! Our focus of today was working like a local. We embarked on our journey bright and early ready for an action-packed day. We then were delighted by a delicious breakfast consisting of pancakes, eggs, and fruit! After, we engaged in a thought-provoking mental warm-up that informed us of the effect baseball has on the Dominican community.
We then continued our journey by riding to ImpACTA Kids Foundation with our greatly appreciated driver, Kelvin! When we arrived we got insight into how this foundation emerged. The Foundation was started by Major League Baseball Star, Manny Acta, who played for the Washington Nationals. Acta went pro in 2007 and came back to his home country in 2008 to start the foundation. The foundation starts children at the young age of 5 and trains them till 18 to be well-rounded individuals specializing in education and baseball.
After learning much about ImpACTA Kids Foundation, we were able to interact more with the kids and participate in a baseball clinic that was set up by one of the coaches named Kerwin Pérez. Everybody did a great job participating and was especially great at being involved with the kids. Shoutout to Kayla, Ella, AJ, and Frances for their fantastic engagement and hard work! They really left everything out on that field and got many rounds of applause from the Dominican team. After having a great time learning and playing baseball we traveled back to the Rancho for some lunch that included white rice, chicken, lentils, tostones, and choices of fruit. After lunch, we had a much-needed hour buffer to digest and have a quick break in the air.
After our break, we engaged in another mental warm-up and learned about the economic impact of baseball on the communities in the Dominican Republic. Major League Baseball Players make the most money out of all other pro sports, which is why many make this their lifelong goal. It helps with the poverty levels of the community, as some even come back to encourage the youths to keep trying. After learning about the deeper meaning and impact of baseball, we traveled back to ImpACTA and watched another video about how the fields were created. We saw the progress the foundation made over the course of a single year as they dedicated a field to Sammy Sosa.
We were able to then interact much more personally with the kids by actually indulging in a game of baseball. We luckily were paired with the younger kids, so we actually had a bit of a chance! They helped us along with our technique and encouraged us with good sportsmanship… well… most of them! Some of the kids were a little sad to be losing against our star players! As luck would have it, the team with our LDDs won! That’s what good leadership does for you! Congrats to Morgan, Kayla, Xoie, Isabel, and Ella (as well as the kids on their team). Clara, Lebron, Emily, Tyler, and Tristian also enjoyed their time on the field while the others sat back in the bleachers and cheered along with their GGLs Holli and Liz.
We then joined up to present a thank you letter to show our gratitude to Carmen Acta, the sister of Manny Acta. We thanked her for her hospitality and generosity for allowing us to interrupt their practice time. We had a fantastic experience, and many are even asking if we can go back to play with the kids a few more times before we leave. We then loaded back onto the bus and had two glorious hours of free time. Everyone relaxed, took naps, and continued getting to know each other in the common areas.
We then gathered for dinner, which consisted of alfredo pasta, tomato pasta, fruit, rice, garlic bread, and an interesting type of cracker that was made out of yuca. Once again, the chefs killed it with an amazing menu for today. We appreciate them dearly and plan to write letters of gratitude for all of their hard work. Following dinner, we concluded our night with our nightly meeting where we gave big love, our thorns and roses, and passed the torch to our new LDDs for tomorrow. Gregory and Giselle will be adopting our roles tomorrow and leading us to success for Aid and Development Day. We are so excited to discover our CAP project and learn how we will be helping out the community and giving back for their kindness.
We loved reading your comments from yesterday and look forward to many more!
Lots of love,
Kayla and Morgan
Comments (9)
Kerri Machut
Sounds like a great day! Glad you are enjoying and making the most of your time and service! You will get as much if not more out of it than the kids.
Brenda & Alison
Hi everyone, Great job Kayla & Morgan! Connecting with the youth through baseball sounds like fun! Good luck to Gregory and Giselle tomorrow! Miss and love you Isabel!
Janis Taylor-Alston (Xoie's Mom)
Oh wow, how exciting! I’m genuinely inspired by your group’s dedication during your visit to the ImpACTA Kids Foundation. It’s heartwarming to read about such vibrant community engagement, where the joy of sport and giving back come together so beautifully. Your thoughtful gesture of presenting a thank-you letter to Carmen Acta exemplifies gratitude and respect. Evidently, this trip was more than just an excursion; it was a meaningful cultural exchange and an opportunity to learn from each other. Dinner sounds tasty; a cracker made of yuca sounds interesting. It sounds like you’re doing some incredible work and having fun, too! Kudos to all of the Glimpsers! Hi Xoie, I love you! ?
Carlin Coffey
Love reading about your day as an LDD, Kayla! So proud of you for jumping into these new experiences and cannot wait to hear more next year! Soak it all in!!
-Ms. Coffey
Frank Gordon (Tristan Gordon)
I beyond elated for all of the participants and the lifelong experiences this journey will provide.
I assure you, we parents/family are back home missing your faces, missing your voices. But there is no better place for you to be at moment in time. Cherish it, embrace it and take pride in your gifts.
Looking forward to more from you guys.
Signed,
Tristan’s Dad
Brent Nichols (GG Staff)
I am a huge baseball fan so I am very jealous of your day. The area you are in in the DR is ground zero for baseball as I’m sure you are learning so it seems like this day was a very authentic experience. It’s really neat that you were able to learn about how impactful baseball is in the DR while getting to play alongside local youth.
Great write up Kayla and Morgan, really thorough and detailed! Makes it easy to feel like we’re there with you.
Bin Li
Gracias, Kayla and Morgan, for the update!
What a wonderful day filled with fun and learning! I really enjoyed reading about all the details of your group’s day and gaining some cultural and community insights alongside you!
Lots of love,
Clara’s mom
L. Taylor
Thank you for sharing such an eventful and impactful day of service and learning, Morgan continue to understand your purpose and embrace every moment of your journey…we miss you.
Love Mom
Megan Hammer (Francie’s mom)
Wow! You know 2 people at home (Nate and Liv) are envious of this experience! Your dad, too! So happy you are taking in all of these experiences! Love you!