Uganda is one of the poorest countries in the entire world. In addition, one out of every nine children in the country is an orphan. And one of those orphans is Dennis Kasumba, who is trying to escape that poverty and fulfill a lifelong dream of playing professional baseball. LA Times staff writer Kevin Baxter and photographer Wally Skalij traveled to Uganda to get a firsthand look at this social media sensation. They joined Lisa McRee on “LA Times Today.”
Skalij stumbled upon Kasumba’s videos on Twitter, where his cousin posts his training videos, and decided to pursue his story. He explained what Kasumba’s life in Uganda is like and how his baseball coach, Paul Wafula changed his life.
“[Kasumba] worked at a slaughterhouse at 14 years old. And Coach Wafula coaxed them out of that and brought them to the baseball field by giving him incentives, offering lunch... He does weight workouts twice a day, early morning, late at night, all the way until 10 p.m. In the middle of the day, he’s working out with the baseball team. And in between that, he’s working in cow pens to provide for his grandmother and his siblings,” Skalij shared.
Coach Wafula played semi-pro baseball in Japan and Uganda and now shares his love for the sport with local players. Baxter talked about Wafula’s work to improve orphans’ lives through baseball.
“There are six orphans on Coach Paul’s team. Some of them he takes into his house, others he provides housing for them. Coach Paul was the guy for me who was doing this and believed in the redemptive power of baseball. And he became the inspiration for Dennis,” Baxter said.
Wafula takes his players to visit disabled children in their town to teach them baseball. Skalij said the hope that baseball gives the players is invaluable in their poor town.
Uganda has never sent a player to the major leagues. Baxter talked about Kasumba’s chances of making his major league dreams come true.
“He was invited to the United States this summer to play in a semi-pro league. He needs to get a visa to do that. If he comes, I think the learning curve will be really steep, but when you see what he’s overcome already, you can’t you can’t really bet against them. The odds may be against them, but he’s 150 pounds and 145 pounds of that is hope,” Baxter said.
Watch the full interview above.
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