My time in Colombia with Project Béisbol was nothing short of marvelous. For a year, I spent time traveling to over 20 different towns/cities in Colombia, visiting more parts of the land than most locals do in their lifetimes, while donating equipment to and spreading love and opportunity through baseball. Stretching from Apartadó in the beautiful state of Antioquia to the capital city of Bogotá and Santa Marta on the coast, my heart was touched by the hundreds of kids who fight daily against their lack of social mobility, schooling issues, general poverty and overall feelings of “being stuck.” As a lifelong baseball fan, aficionado and “player,” this year changed what the overall meaning of “sport” and “unity by sport” meant for me. Hundreds of kids showed me their hunger to play for just a couple hours, learn just a few new pitching mechanics and grips, laugh, horse around, and forget their reality while they enter into a new one void of worries and strife. I learned how to interact with youth ballplayers on both a human level and a cultural level, bringing lessons about history and migration through my college’s Hispanic Studies courses and applying them to real life issues we dealt with such as the Venezuelan Migrant Crisis and immigration issues. This year was more than just a gap year; as it opened my eyes to new experiences outside a classroom or work setting, and showed me what it is like to help people truly, who cannot help themselves in their current situations. Mix all that in with a shared love for home runs, strikeouts, sliding, and snacks after a long day in the sun; can’t have a better year than that!My time in Colombia with Project Béisbol was nothing short of marvelous. For a year, I spent time traveling to over 20 different towns/cities in Colombia, visiting more parts of the land than most locals do in their lifetimes, while donating equipment to and spreading love and opportunity through baseball. Stretching from Apartadó in the beautiful state of Antioquia to the capital city of Bogotá and Santa Marta on the coast, my heart was touched by the hundreds of kids who fight daily against their lack of social mobility, schooling issues, general poverty and overall feelings of “being stuck.” As a lifelong baseball fan, aficionado and “player,” this year changed what the overall meaning of “sport” and “unity by sport” meant for me. Hundreds of kids showed me their hunger to play for just a couple hours, learn just a few new pitching mechanics and grips, laugh, horse around, and forget their reality while they enter into a new one void of worries and strife. I learned how to interact with youth ballplayers on both a human level and a cultural level, bringing lessons about history and migration through my college’s Hispanic Studies courses and applying them to real life issues we dealt with such as the Venezuelan Migrant Crisis and immigration issues. This year was more than just a gap year; as it opened my eyes to new experiences outside a classroom or work setting, and showed me what it is like to help people truly, who cannot help themselves in their current situations. Mix all that in with a shared love for home runs, strikeouts, sliding, and snacks after a long day in the sun; can’t have a better year than that!
Varun Maheshwari
