The Meaning of Success

A while back, we got a phone call from our boss about a special project. Apparently, Major League Baseball was planning to send out a professional baseball player to act as an ambassador for the game and to give seminars to the rural teams in Honduras. All the details that she had at the time was that he was originally from the Dominican Republic and that his last name was Sosa. This of course filled my head with visions of Sammy Sosa and I having a Home Run Derby in the shadows of our mountain, and him teaching me that little ¨kiss hand, touch heart, kiss hand, touch heart; point to God¨ sequence that he does. Thus we were a little disappointed when it turned out to be Elias Sosa, a pitcher for various teams during the 70´s and 80s. Along with the Honduran Federation of Baseball president, Mr. Sosa arrived in Las Vegas this morning.

Despite our initial disappointments, we had a fabulous time today with Mr. Sosa. He arrived in Las Vegas and spoke to one of our elementary schools about the importance of self esteem, hard work, and following dreams. In previous stops around Honduras, he had given this speech to groups numbering in the tens of kids; today more than 300 students gathered for this event. He spoke about how he was taught how to play baseball from two Peace Corps Volunteers in the D.R. that lived across the street from him, and how it paved the path to his success, and how that spirit of involvement with youth led him to his current role with the MLB today. After the speech, he was given a little trinket to remember Las Vegas, and was erroneously called Sammy Sosa many times by excited students whom were excited to meet anybody, let alone a ¨famous player¨ of a sport that they don’t understand. Afterwards we had practice with our team, where finally somebody with the technical knowledge and the ability to explain that knowledge in Spanish was able to take the reins for a while. Having always loved baseball, it was a geeky pleasure of mine to catch for a former pro pitcher, and later he taught me how to throw a curveball, with limited success.

Life in Vegas has been kinda difficult as of late, as sometimes the life of a volunteer is completely relentless in its demands, thankless, and frustrating. The past month or so has represented a low mark in our time here, as these frustrations have boiled to the surface a couple of times, and has tested our resolve and patience in ways that we hadn’t anticipated. Strangely enough, it has been our baseball team on countless occasions that has helped us navigate those rocky waters, and has put everything back into perspective. Success is extremely hard to measure here sometimes; traditional benchmarks do not always apply. Tangible products rarely exist, and sometimes you appreciate the insignificant shared pleasures of life that you are allowed to share with humanity as your true contribution to the human condition. Sometimes success is a day where you spend a couple hours listening to the dull smack of a baseball hitting your glove.

Today was one of those days.

Simon