breaking borders newsletter 9/26/2013

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6 MONTH RECAP

What started off as a dream 18

months ago has finally become

a reality. We have turned three

people’s passions into a singu-

ar organization’s mission.

Breaking Borders was createdor the purpose of fostering

youth development and leader-

hip through Ultimate Frisbee.

We desire to not only challenge

he youth we work with, and

develop them into tomorrow’s

eaders, but also to provide

those that participate alongside

us with an opportunity for per-

sonal growth. Ultimate has a

unique spirit that gives us the

perfect platform to teach core

leadership values in a fun and

positive learning environment.

Breaking Borders was incorpo-

rated with the state of Florida inMarch of 2013 and is currently

in the process of applying for

tax exemption as a federal non-

profit 501c3. We added another

member to our family in Tom

Robinson, who serves as Execu-

tive Director, and makes sure

our organization runs as

smoothly as possible.

F O U N D E D M A R C H 2 6 T H , 2 0 1 3

eptember 26th, 2013

Breaking BordersBreaking Borders is an organization that uses Ultimate Frisbee as a

tool to promote strong character development in today’s youth.

— Breaking Borders’ Mission



Estamos en Colombia!

he place to be

n May of 2013 the

hrase “Estamos en Co-ombia” (We are in Co-ombia) became the of-icial theme of Breaking

Borders first officialverseas trip. By thend of the week, we

were all saying this eve-ywhere we went, de-pite only half of useing bilingual in Span-sh and English. Over he duration of theamp, Breaking Borders

worked with kids toeach them our mission

nd the values Ultimatean portray. The kidsquickly learned thatlthough they wouldn’te able to verballyommunicate with mostf the coaches, they

needed to pay extra at-ention to the staff

member’s actions anddemonstrations.

The staff

Many people have

asked us why BreakingBorders has decided tofocus on Internationalexchange instead of

working with youth inthe U.S. The answer issimple: When we traveloverseas, we are whollychanged from theinside-out. This concept became even more evi-dent to our six membersin May when we werein Medellin, Colombia.We had the privilegedopportunity to experi-

ence a brand new cul-ture which includednew tastes, sights,sounds, rituals, greet-ings, and an entirelydifferent way of life.

The communication

Our goal is not to travel

and change those weserve, but rather to work side by side with themto share ideas. Many

times these ideas arespoken verbally througha translator, however more often than notthey are shared by non-verbal forms of com-munication. BreakingBorders uses UltimateFrisbee and its “Spiritof the Game” as a lan-guage in itself.

The tools

In Colombia we were

fortunate enough towork with a very skilledgroup of Ultimate play-ers who knew the game

well. This allowed us tofocus less on the fun-damentals of Ultimateand more on the corevalues such as team-work, respect, dedica-tion, service, and com-munication. We wereforced to learn the im- portance of patience andwith both parties out of their comfort zone,

much of the learningwas expedited.

The youth

The week ended wit

group of campers ining us into their community for a home

cooked meal. The smvillage of Moravia ctogether to welcomeand thank us for theUltimate clinic that just come to a closePictures were taken,Facebook contacts echanged, and persontours of homes and tcommunity were givto us. It was an afternoon of building rel

tionships off the Ultmate field, and we sawe of these familiethat accepted us witopen arms. These arthe moments we re-member in our life, moments that changus, and the momentsthat we will cherish ever.

M O R A V I A , C O L O M B I A

September 26th



tyx, Chasen, Tom, and Kristen on campus

This past August, we took our second

fficial trip as an organization. This wasur first opportunity to work within the

United States, as we were invited by theUniversity of Colorado-Boulder to be thekeynote speakers for their StampedeLeadership Camp. Every year the Leader-hip Camp brings in about 100 of the uni-

versity’s top freshmen for an early expe-ience on campus, providing them witheveral breakout sessions and guestpeakers to inspire their leadership skills.

For 2013, Breaking Borders was theheadlining organization and we were de-ermined to set a great impression withhese budding young minds.

Camp discs

We met the 18 staff members ahead of

time, immediately bonding with them andlearning of ways to help us be more suc-cessful during the camp. The staff wasabsolutely phenomenal and we cannotthank them enough for everything theydid. Because of their help, not only werewe able to work within the bigger picture

of Breaking Borders mission, but alsoable to build a more personal relationshipwith every camper. Over the course of thetwo day camp event, our four staff members had a chance to meet every singlecamper, work alongside them in their campus cleanup, attend the many break-out sessions, and explain to them how weat Breaking Borders are able to accomplish our mission.

Breaking Borders and the camp staff

On the final day of the camp, we divid

all of the students into ten separategroups. We asked them to create theirown exercise/drill that would teach atleast one core leadership value. It was

during this final activity that we saw jhow amazing this group actually was.the ten groups, no two exercises were same, and every single one was taughand by the students of the LeadershipCamp. We even picked up a few ideasfrom them!

All in all, this trip was a HUGE succefor Breaking Borders. We were so hu bled by the opportunity we were pre-sented with, and took great strides as organization thanks to our experience

with the Stampede Leadership Camp.is our hope that we can return again anwork with a whole new group of incre ble young people!

B O U L D E R , C O L O R A D O

eptember 26th, 2013

Stampede Leadership Cam



For the future...We at Breaking Borders have been so excited to be a part of the incredible growth that has taken place over the

ast twelve months. What started as a small idea has grown into trips to Nicaragua, Colombia, and Colorado and the

hance to positively impact the lives of hundreds of youth and volunteers alike.

At the beginning of the new year Breaking borders is scheduled to venture back to Nicaragua in order to continuepreading our mission and build upon past experiences and relationships. Our goal in Nicaragua is to have a more lasting

mpact on the youth by involving them in new activities that we have created through our experience in Colorado. We also

lan to develop future leaders who continue to shine in both the clinic and with their interaction among their community,

n hopes to have them play a bigger role in future trips.

Later in 2014, Breaking Borders plans to expand our reach into Panama. We have developed relationships over

he past year that affords us the opportunity to create a clinic that will impact another large group of youth. We will con-

inue to employ our successful coaching lessons and create a platform that will allow for continued growth with the youth

nd community for the future.

Our success in Colorado has allowed us to explore other clinic and teaching o pportunities within the United

States, and we are currently working to develop these into near future trips.

Please join usWe appreciate all the support that everyone has given us this far and without it we would not be where we are. In orde

ontinue doing what we are passionate about we need your continued support. Without your donations Breaking Borders can nontinue to impact youth on a global level and accomplish our mission. Please sign up on our web page to receive newsletterspdates from our trips and like our FB page to keep up to date with what we are doing. Along with liking our page and sharingur posts we would be grateful for any financial support you would be willing to share. When you donate to BB you are not

donating to an organization but to the development of a youth’s character and the community around them.

B R E A K I N G B O R D E R S

www.breakingborders.org * [email protected] *

www.facebook.com/pages/breaking-borders

http://www.facebook.com/pages/breaking-borders

http://www.breakingborders.org/

mailto:[email protected]







breaking borders newsletter 9/26/2013

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