CELEBRATING 10 YEAR OF THE MARIPOSA DR FOUNDATION AND WOMEN IN SPORTS

When we started The Mariposa DR Foundation ten years ago, we immediately knew we were onto something that would be transformational for the entire community. After years of educational work in Cabarete and beyond, we knew that we had to create something exclusively for girls. We knew that girls weren’t reaching their full potential because of domestic responsibilities, early marriage and childbirth, and all the hurdles put in their way while growing up in extreme poverty. We knew that they were being overlooked, left out and missing out on many of the unique and rich experiences that make their community of Cabarete so wonderful. We knew that we had to do something different. We knew that if we could figure this out, we could change not only her life; we could change her family’s, her future family’s and her entire community’s life as well. We knew that she was the world’s most powerful force for change.

Play Like a Girl

PHOTO BY NICOLE BLECK

PHOTO BY NICOLE BLECK

While we knew all those things, what we didn’t know is HOW to affect that change. We didn’t know at the time how critical sports would be to our success. When we started, we didn’t have our own space. We depended on our community to provide safe places for us to convene. From the public schools, to local restaurants, hotels, tour operators and sport companies and instructors, a world of resources opened up to us and the vision started to become clearer. With access to all of these amazing new experiential learning opportunities, girls who were conditioned to believe that their individual hopes and dreams didn’t matter, began to see new possibilities for themselves and understand that they had agency in determining their futures. With all these new possibilities came the need to seek out more ways of building confidence. Sports became the outlet for many of them and ten years in, we continue to be amazed at the results.

PHOTO BY NICOLE BLECK

PHOTO BY NICOLE BLECK

We have all seen the research or experienced first hand that education and sports go hand in hand. Studies have proven over and over again that sports simultaneously improve memory, concentration, and learning skills- all of which are tools for an advantage in the classroom. That playing sports produces higher states of psychological well being and self-esteem. While this is important for all children, it’s game changing for girls, especially girls thriving in extreme poverty. Girls who never believed that they were allowed to want certain things are now setting goals, working in teams, managing stress and anxiety, building skills to deal with success and failure, becoming leaders on the field, in the classroom, at home and in the community, and truly learning that “practice makes perfect” because of sports.

PHOTO BY NICOLE BLECK

“SHE BELIEVED SHE COULD. SO SHE DID

– R.S. Gray “Scoring Wilder”

PHOTO BY NICOLE BLECK

Ten years ago, before Mariposa, it was extremely rare to see any Dominican and unheard of to see a Haitian young woman participating in sports in Cabarete, especially watersports. Although we live in a beachfront community, local girls are often never taught to swim and grow up fearing the water. Imagine growing up on the ocean watching local boys and foreigners find joy in surfing and kite surfing and being in the water, and not knowing how to swim! The very things that make Cabarete unique and amazing were the things that most held the girls back from feeling like they were allowed to participate in and take up space in their own world.

In 2013, we purchased a dilapidated property that was originally built as a hotel. In the center of the property was a pool. In developing and discussing the plans for fixing up and building out the space to create The Mariposa Center for Girls, the question of “what are you going to do with that pool?” kept coming up. In fact, many people had opinions that it was a frivolous expense to have a pool on our property and that we shouldn’t invest resources into providing such a luxury. We saw it differently. We saw that pool as the heart of everything we were trying to do at Mariposa. We saw an opportunity to level the playing field for girls in Cabarete and create the conditions to be active citizens. We saw it as the most important thing to have on the property to show the girls that they matter. We had to have that pool.

Before photos of the property that would become The Mariposa Center for Girls. We had a grand vision for this run down place and we are extremely grateful to the many friends and volunteers that have worked hard to create this beautiful sanctuary we call home.

ALTHOUGH WE LIVE IN A BEACHFRONT COMMUNITY, LOCAL GIRLS ARE OFTEN NEVER TAUGHT TO SWIM AND GROW UP FEARING THE WATER. HERE WE ARE, TEN YEARS LATER AND THAT POOL CONTINUES TO BE OUR CENTER AND HAS CHANGED SO MANY LIVES.

Every girl at Mariposa has access to swimming lessons and thanks to our many community partners, has the opportunity to try and pursue all kinds of land and water sports. This has changed everything. The girls are not only feeling confident in learning new skills, they are making empowered decisions, trying new things – playing basketball, tennis, swimming, surfing, dancing, doing yoga, kite surfing, stand-up paddling and much, much more. Not only are they leading active and healthy lifestyles but they are walking taller with balance, grace and poise. The Mariposa girls are perfect examples of how sports are beneficial in every aspect of their lives. As we look forward to the next ten years on this journey, we still have a lot to learn but we surely know one thing - that sports will continue to be an integral part of everything we do.