The Dominican Republic holds a special place in the heart of Basketball as a Mission. It is in El Cruce de Arroyo Hondo that the entire idea of BaaM originated.

The streets of El Cruce

Basketball as a Mission travels from the US to Santo Domingo, where we take a bus to Villa Fundación. In Fundación, the coaches stay with the Dominican nuns that founded the school Fey y Alegría. The convent is not like any resort hotel in the city; coaches sleep under mosquito nets and have tarantulas and reptiles as roommates. Clean water is an invaluable commodity and electricity is scarce but by the end of the week all of the volunteers learn to appreciate the things we normally take for granted in the United States. Everyday the coaches literally jump onto the bed of a 1980 something Toyota Tacoma and travel 2-3 kilometers to El Cruce, where the school is located. That truck is invincible; in 2010 we were able to pack 15 people onto the truck bed.

Hanging out at lunch at Steph y Seri's house

The coaches work with the campers for about six hours total each day, three and a half hours in the morning, and two and a half in the afternoon. The camp has a two hour respite in the middle of each day because it is intensely hot, but during that time the coaches usually meander throughout the town visiting the camper’s homes and families. Each year Basketball as a Mission awaits our return to El Cruce and each year we bring more necessities for the community such as toothbrushes, lotions, school supplies, and toys, in addition to basketball clothes and shoes.

During the first trip in 2006 BaaM constructed the rims at Fey y Alegría. We have made a point to return to this impoverished town every year to help the children and watch them grow. In 2009 Basketball as a Mission helped paint murals on the walls of the school. Since 2006 the community has taken it upon themselves to construct a cover to shade the court and now the camp has grown into two full sessions with 100 campers in each. Every year the camp grows in popularity and in depth, and children look forward to the return of “the American’s” each summer.