A Dream Amid Ruins
Yeferson Seijas, a 12‑year‑old baseball prodigy from La Guaira, Venezuela, is training in a makeshift tent after two powerful earthquakes on June 24 flattened his family’s home and left many of his friends injured or dead.
The quakes not only destroyed his house but also claimed the lives of several friends, forcing Yeferson and his family to seek shelter among the very baseball fields where they once practiced.
Rain forces the young players to scramble for cover, laughing and teasing each other as they cram inside the dugout, a small reminder of normalcy amid the devastation.
Scouts See Potential
Trainer Franklin Longa, who once worked with the boy’s late backer, believes Yeferson and two other children possess the raw talent to become Major League Baseball stars, a prospect that offers a glimmer of hope for many Venezuelan youths.
Baseball has long been a cultural cornerstone in La Guaira, where roughly 40,000 children and teenagers participate in organized leagues, dreaming of escape from poverty through the sport.
Yeferson’s mother, Elisabeth Pacheco, watches his daily drills with a mixture of pride and anxiety, hoping the diamond will one day provide the stable home she has been unable to secure.
The family once supported the ruling party in hopes of economic improvement, later fled to Peru when the economy collapsed, and now return to Venezuela to rebuild, uncertain how long they will remain in the temporary shelter.