Hi ILB Supporters,

First, I want to apologize for the lack of updates on this project. We wanted to wait until we knew it was really going to happen this time before sending you another big update. 

Long story short, the Dominican government was supposed to give us a big tax discount on the land purchase for being an NGO, but kept holding up the process of giving us the title to the land in our name, which prevented us from starting construction. After 3 years of back-and-forth and the government giving us new processes to follow and rejections we realized that even though the law said we should get a discount, to actually get the title we would have to pay the taxes, which we finally did.

We pride ourselves on stretching every dollar as far as it will go, and pinching every penny. And also for standing up to corruption. So that’s why it took so long. You can see the full project timeline below, if you’re interested.

The future I Love Baseball field land has been fully cleared and leveled and some of the initial foundations are being constructed for the buildings in phase 1. It’s amazing to see this coming together. A lot of the equipment has been breaking down due to the weather and wear of the terrain. Also, the hurricanes and tropical storms are causing delays. Please pray for these problems to be resolved, so the DR can finish this field before the end of the year. They are starting to pour footers and construct some actual buildings now, so exciting!

If you look at the photos below, it’s sort of unreal to see this huge project finally come to life. Wow.

Thank you for your patience, and most of all, for your belief in these young men. They can be the future leaders of Barahona and the Dominican Republic.

I will keep you updated as construction continues! Viva me encanta el beisbol!

- Fraser