Nearly 100 children in the Dominican are practicing karate with a little help from some local hands. Seven years ago, the Okotoks United Church began annual mission trips to the Dominican Republic to help a charity in the country, called True Evangelism Always Requires Sacrifice (TEARS), with a focus on education, clean water and youth sports. The United Church always contacts the TEARS school principal and executive director to see what kind of sporting equipment might be needed, and the mission groups have brought basketballs, volleyballs and soccer balls in the past. This year the response came as a bit of a surprise. “They said they were starting a karate program,” said Gary Dzurka of the Okotoks United Church. “They had a local black belt who was going to come in and do some classes for kids.” Their request was for any equipment or used uniforms to outfit the students interested in karate, he said. Dzurka got to work contacting local karate dojos to see whether anyone had items they could donate to the mission trip. He received a response from Ben Hollins at Ryujin Martial Arts, who had some pads and striking shields to give. “I gave him some pictures of the kids, they had been in some classes and had come back from a competition, and Ben said, ‘They look like they’re in street clothes,’” said Dzurka. “I mentioned the barrio was pretty darn poor and didn’t have uniforms so they just used what athletic clothes they could.” That’s when Hollins sprung into action. “I thought there was no point in sending six or so used uniforms, that wouldn’t be fair,” said Hollins. “I said I’d like to donate enough brand-new uniforms for the school.” He approached his gi (karate uniform) supplier in the United States with a budget, ready to purchase about 50 uniforms in various sizes. The supplier asked what the bulk order of gis was for, and offered them at cost, he said. Hollins was able to purchase 96 of the uniforms within his budget, enough to outfit students for two years’ worth of schooling, he said. It was an important cause to get behind, he said. “These kids have very little money, and martial arts or karate is great sport and lifestyle to get into,” said Hollins. “It was the smallest thing we could do, really. “Every kid should have the chance to study karate if they want to.” He said martial arts can do incredible things for youth. It provides discipline and instills a new confidence in one’s abilities. There are some youth who come into his dojo hardly speaking because they’re too shy or not confident enough in themselves to speak out, he said. Within a month or two those same children will be in front of a class of 20 explaining a technique without a second thought, he said. “The whole thing is fitness, the confidence it builds in the kids, and not only that, there’s the self-defence as well,” said Hollins. “It gives them more realistic expectations on life.”
