The Cuban violinist Arly Concepción became the star of an emotional viral moment last Thursday, when he gifted baseballs to the children in his neighborhood in Cuba, in a video that has garnered over 200,000 views on Instagram.
The musician posted the reel on his personal account and it has garnered nearly 16,000 likes. In the images, Concepción is seen chatting with the children, asking them what they thought of his old baseball. They were interested in the item, even though it looked quite worn.
"Here, I’ll give each of you a new one. Go on, go play," the musician told them. The children thanked him and jumped with joy as they walked away laughing down the street towards their homes, showing off their new balls.
The artist himself explained in the video description the motivation behind the gesture. "I started recording because I knew the happiness that was coming; I was also a child, and I know what a ball means. Even though it may seem insignificant, many times we didn't have even that to play."
He added a reflection for his followers: "Sometimes we have things at home that we don't use and that can do so much good for others."
The shortage of basic sports equipment —balls, bats, gloves— is part of a systemic decline that particularly affects children and young people trying to engage in the national sport.
The reaction of the audience on social media reflects the collective nostalgia of a generation that grew up playing baseball in the streets with the means they had. Seeing a classical musician give even a small piece of that childhood back to today's children struck a chord with thousands of Cubans both on the island and abroad.
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