April 29, 2010

Joey Henshaw stands out. First basemen who check in at 6-foot-7 and 250 pounds have a way of doing so. But when he's digging holes and clearing fields in Nicarauga, he's even more of a physical exhibit.

"I think the average person there is about 5-5, so I tower over all of them," the Army junior said. "A giant white man sticks out."

Particularly when he's doing the sort of work in which Henshaw is involved. The destitution he has encountered when doing what is de facto missionary work is appaling. La Bamba is a rural area in which raising sugar cane is the primary form of labor. But despite his father being a pastor in a Baptist church and his own tendency to quote Bible passages with stark familiarity, it's not just preaching he's doing.There are a lot of kids with no place to play and no fresh water to drink, and Henshaw and some of his Army teammates are working on solving that. Hence their work building - and raising money for - a baseball and soccer field, in addition to food and medical supplies, a well and two houses. They've raised half of the $16,000 they'll need to resume their work.

For the complete article by Ronald Mergenthaler of the Army Black Knights Examiner click here