Steveston’s Viena Wroblewska loves to explore.
And when the single mom ventured into unknown territory during a trip to Nicaragua last November, she discovered not only some new people and places, but embarked on a personal challenge to help youngsters in the impoverished Central American country.
That’s why she recently put the word out to family, friends and acquaintances to gather up any used baseball equipment and send it to her before she goes back July 25 to Nicaragua where she will distribute the gear.
“I’ve never done anything like this before, so I wasn’t sure what kind of response I’d get,” said Wroblewska, 39, who speaks six languages, including Spanish, and runs her own translation services business, which boasts corporate clients such as video game giant Electronic Arts.
Although, she called the effort “Gloves For Kids” and set up a Facebook page to help spread the word, the gloves only started to trickle in and were quickly outstripped by a collection of baseballs and bats.
“I guess people don’t want to part with their gloves so easily because they have sentimental value. So, when I started getting other equipment I thought, why not, I’ll take it all down with me.” she said, adding that baseball savvy friends told her some bats can cost up to $90 new.
“That’s so expensive, especially when the average monthly wage in Nicaragua is about $200.
“Parents are more worried about putting food on the table. I met some kids who didn’t even have shoes, let alone any equipment to play baseball.”
Wroblewska is also getting her company, A Plus Translations, to help out with another charity she stumbled across, called the Antonio Project, which employs the families of disabled children to make hammocks.
“Down there, when a women gives birth to a disabled child, she is almost shunned entirely by society,” Wroblewska said. “It’s almost viewed as God’s punishment.”
With that in place already, Wroblewska said she wanted to branch out and find a cause she could call her own. And providing baseball gear was the ticket.
“It’s the country’s national sport,” she said. “The kids have so much fun. And I have time now that my business is kind of running itself and I can take time and go back.”
Another factor motivating her was Nathan, her 14-year-old son who plays outfield for the Richmond Chuckers.
Wroblewska looked at him and realized the fortunate circumstances he was in, compared to the children she met in San Juan del Sur in southern Nicaragua.
“I am hoping to see lots of smiles on the faces of children when I go back,” she said.
To arrange a drop-off of baseball equipment, search Gloves For Kids on Facebook.
