Mission Statement:
Fields of Growth seeks to use various avenues of education; service-travel, traditional schooling, youth programming and cultural exchange to support the advancement of common good. We aim to positively shape and develop a global worldview in the minds of intelligent, young lacrosse players by providing international service-travel opportunities that enable volunteers to share their life passions with spirited enthusiasm while at the same time supporting sustained education, human development and rights initiatives in the respective countries they visit.
Context & Core Commitments*
- Global Leadership Development: The United States of America and the world at large have always had a need for intelligent, passionate, and selfless leaders. For thousands of years these have been the characteristics of the greatest leaders the world has known. However, over the past 25 years the global economic and political climate has changed dramatically. The world needs leaders that have an allegiance to their nation that is coupled with a sense of global responsibility and citizenship. We need young leaders to emerge that will be able to balance the need for prosperity at home with a global perspective on fair and sustainable economic development. Through our trips we seek to expose high school and college students to the beauty, challenges and opportunities in the developing world. We are not academics, but we do intend for the trips to be intentionally educational, formative experiences.
- Harnessing Passion & Enthusiasm: The world needs more young leaders inspired to harness their passions into social impact that benefits the common good. Whether their passion be; music, law, education, sport or finance, we want Fields of Growth to be an organization that helps the leaders of tomorrow develop a vision for a life of impact. This is exactly how Fields of Growth was serendipitously started with humble intentions Kevin Dugan had of sharing the blessings of a good life and good health. Very simply, Dugan began working with a community based organization in rural Uganda. During his down time in the rural village he would break out his lacrosse sticks and play catch with primary school girls. Upon returning to the USA, Dugan shared stories of his experiences in Uganda and friends in the tight-knit lacrosse community began contacting him about visiting Uganda to support his work. Dugan began organizing service trips for lacrosse players interested in helping establish a school, building houses and coaching lacrosse… and Fields of Growth was born. Interest has continued to grow and FoG now employees over 10 people in Uganda through its burgeoning service-travel business, school and development projects. This has all been done by harnessing passion and enthusiasm into social impact. We seek so inspire young adults to live a life of spirited vocation guided by Aristotle wisdom that, “Where your passion intersects with the world’s need there lies your vocation”.
- Relationship Development Through Solidarity: We often refer to the network of volunteers, community partners and staff as a Family of Friends. At the core of the FoG mission is a commitment to relationship development; in the communities, among volunteers and through our programs. We try to promote the interdependence at the heart of the African proverb that I am strong if you are strong™ This saying sums up our philosophy on leadership and organizational success. The saying captures the importance of shared connectivity that any great corporation, country or lacrosse team must have if it wants to succeed and be strong. It is with this spirit of solidarity that we are reaching out to share our passion, joy and blessings with others. Our goal is to join with the local communities in which we work on a “Mission of Accompaniment”. To do this in a sincere and honest way we need to walk softly and humbly in the villages and towns in which our volunteers visit. We achieve this be seeking first to understand the needs of the community and by living with and among the people and not as tourists (While of course not jeopardizing the health and safety of our volunteers).
- Commitment to Social Justice & Human Rights
- Commitment to Education
- Preferential Option for the Poor & Children
- Commitment to Spiritual Growth and Faith, but Religious Neutrality: Our organization does not promote any religious ideology, instead focusing on bridging divisions between believers that have been isolated from their native brothers & sisters most often Western Missionaries that have unintentionally divided communities through denominational ideological certitude or financial benefit.
- Commitment to Community Building Through Sport & Music: These two activities will always have an important home at the core of the FoG mission. Sport and Music are two things that naturally bring people together. Sport and Music can go hand in hand in breaking down religious, ethnic, political, economic barriers. Our organization has been able to witness this firsthand in extremely powerful ways as we’ve witnessed the ostracized children of the Bawta Pygmies integrate and achieve the dignity of the Bachiga children through our sports development partnership with the Batwa Development Program at our field on the perimeter of the Bwindi Impenetrable Rainforest. We’ve also seen it as Protestant, Catholic and Muslim children have come together in harmony through our Barefoot Truth children’s choir.
* Several of our core principles are rooted in the concepts of Catholic Social Teaching. We do not promote any religious ideology, but we have taken significant guidance from these beliefs, which we believe to be principles that are rooted in an unfiltered compassion, love and respect for all human persons.