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To Whom Much Is Given
By Brandy Campbell
Major League slugger Albert Pujols delivers from the heart
Thirteen years ago, Albert Pujols left the Dominican Republic. But the Dominican Republic never left him.
In the world of Major League baseball, rags-to-riches stories are not unheard of.
But for St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, the story doesn't end with the riches.
Every year, Albert and his wife, Deidre, journey from their home in St. Louis to Albert's native Dominican Republic.
These trips are not vacations. The two have imposed on themselves the goal of chipping away at the hopelessness of this desperately poor country, hoping to make it a better place.
"God delivered me from that place, and my job is now to help others," Albert, 29, says.
"It is my responsibility — what God has called me to do."
When Albert and Deidre serve, it is on dusty streets. There are often no cameras, no reporters — a fact that is not overlooked by those they work with.
"They have genuine hearts, and their love for the children is outstanding," says Bernard Okeke, who works for Compassion in the Dominican Republic.
"Albert is not looking for publicity, and he does not just stand there and watch. He gets involved."
Beauty in a Mattress
Even at 8 in the morning, the sun is already baking the dry, cracked streets of Batey Aleman.
Albert stoops his 6-foot-3-inch frame as he climbs into the back of a delivery truck.
He wipes his sweaty palms on his shorts before grabbing another mattress from the stack. As he walks through town, the mattress flopping in his arms, a crowd of children joins him, forming a ragtag parade.
Albert is used to the attention of young fans. But most of these children know nothing about his baseball awards, such as being named the National League's Most Valuable Player twice in his eight-year career.
They've just heard that a big man in a truck is bringing them beds. On this trip, Albert and Deidre will deliver beds to more than 50 families registered with Compassion International.
For many, this will be the first gift they've ever received. When Albert arrives at the small concrete home he has been directed to, he squeezes in through the door and carefully places the mattress on the wooden frame delivered earlier.
The room is crowded, the new bed filling up most of the floor. The young mother grasps Albert's arm, tears in her eyes.
"Gracias," she whispers, over and over. He squeezes her hand, and then heads back out into the sunlight to finish his deliveries.
"I know how tough it is, to grow up in poverty," Albert says later. "These families literally have nothing."
Albert was raised by his grandmother in Santo Domingo, a city marred by drugs and gang violence.
The average family here struggles to survive on $4 a day, and Albert's childhood was marked with tattered hand-me-downs and constant wishes for more.
But young Albert clung to something many children in poverty never know: hope.
Compassion to Passion
On their most recent trip to the Dominican Republic in February 2009, Albert and Deidre focused most of their efforts on Compassion's Child Survival Program (CSP), which provides health care, food, and nutritional training and support to caregivers and infants.
This ministry is especially important in the Dominican Republic, where more than 1 million children under the age of 5 live in poverty* and have little access to these benefits.
The Pujols family began working with Compassion in 2001, when they sponsored a child.
Today, their partnership has spread across the ministry. In addition to the three children they currently sponsor, they also fully fund a Child Survival Program in the Dominican Republic.
Since 2007, they have helped fund medical care at Compassion-assisted child development centers throughout the country, including vision and dental clinics.
"They come to our bateys [neighborhoods] with teams of dentists, eye doctors and medical doctors, and they help everyone, Compassion or not," says Bernard.
"Today many of our children have eyeglasses and healthy teeth, thanks to the Pujols. Most of the mothers in their sponsored CSP project not only can show off their beds, but their selfesteem is way up high. … We will ever remain grateful to our Lord for the Pujols family and their foundation."
Words to Action
Albert and Deidre are realistic about the overwhelming poverty in the Dominican Republic. But both feel strongly that they can — and will — make a difference.
This rags-to-riches story more accurately could be called a rags-to-redemption story for Albert Pujols.
"There are 9.6 million people in the Dominican Republic, and I can't reach all of them," he says. "But I want to make sure I set an example for others to follow, for my kids, my future grandkids, and for the people of the Dominican Republic."
*http://www.unicef.org/republicadominicana/english/children.html
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