Lindos Sueños

2008 Program

     Ryan recently traveled to the Dominican Republic along with other representatives of the Red Sox Front Office and 12 high school students from the Boston area as part of the Lindos Suenos program which is run through the Red Sox Foundation and is in its 5th year. The group was in pursuit of building a fully functional baseball field for Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (NPH). An orphanage housing 159 children in San Pedro de Macoris, DR. The group also teamed up with 12 high school age kids from the Dominican as well and together collaborated through community service and baseball.

     The mornings were spent at the orphanage against a two week deadline to complete the field. The afternoons consisted of baseball at the Red Sox Dominican Academy and on multiple occasions traveling to local cities such as El Mamon to play against their respective teams. The students and staff experienced the true essence of baseball in the Dominican Republic at these fields.

     The team played solid quality baseball and successfully completed with the last square of grass being placed as the kids of the orphanage walked onto the fresh infield dirt for the closing ceremonies and dedication of the field.

     At the moment of the dedication, when the final piece of grass was laid, it was at that point where everyone realized the true value of the work they had just completed. All of the hard work had built up to this moment. Two weeks of work on our end for a lifetime of happiness, smiles, and opportunity for the orphanage children.

     For the Dominican Republic baseball is a sense of hope and for this orphanage it is the greatest sign of hope these amazing kids have ever seen in their entire lives. From the start of the project the orphanage kids were convinced that Lindos Suenos could not complete the field. That was what they had only known; being let down and knowing no hope or faith in seeing something be accomplished; until their field was completed. It was a resurgence of hope as laughter and smiles painted the infield at that moment. A classroom was built, and this was a classroom of life and baseball.

     “You really don’t understand the true value of your work until you step out onto the finished field with the kids and feel the emotions and are able to connect with them on a personal level. It is amazing to see how baseball can bring countries of people together and at the same time change lives. It’s an amazing game. This experience is something I will take with me for the rest of my life”.
-Ryan Latham, Fenway Ambassador for the Boston Red Sox

To learn how you can help out these amazing children at one of NPH’s many homes nationwide please visit them.

Click here to learn more about the Boston Red Sox Lindos Sueños program