Video: Watch the Wayuu people discover baseball in Colombia
Lisandro Epiayu, a teacher in the community, had the idea to start the Wayuu Kottirashi baseball team: "We created the first balls and the first bat." Through this video, they are also asking for some support.
Baseball's reach stretches far and wide.
The following video tells the story of how baseball was introduced in the Wayuu** community in Colombia. The goal now is to highlight the Wayuu culture in a sport at a competitive level and help the kids from the Indigenous American ethnic group to reach other places. Maybe, as one of the kids puts it, also to represent the New York Yankees one day.
Lisandro Epiayu, a teacher in the community, had the idea to start a baseball team: Wayuu Kottirashi.
"It all started in a very humble way," commented Epiayu. "We created our first balls and our first bat."
** Wikipedia tells us that Wayuu (also Wayu, Wayúu, Guajiro, Wahiro) is an Indigenous American ethnic group of the Guajira Peninsula in the northernmost part of Colombia and northwest Venezuela. Their population in Colombia is approximately 150,000 persons and represents 20% of Colombia's Amerindian population The Wayuu community occupies a total area of 10,800 square kilometres (4,171 square miles) within approximately 10 Indian reservations, eight of which are located south of the Department of La Guajira on the Caribbean sea.
