The story behind the young Venezuelan who makes flip-flops with recycled material and dreams of wearing spikes in professional baseball

A year ago Andrés lost his cholas (flip flops), a shoe that in Venezuela is usually worn without socks to be inside the house. The young man, who lives with his mother, Carla Cabrera, his grandfather and another 17-year-old brother, has grown up in a low-income family that, in recent years, has suffered more violently from the impact of harsh US sanctions. USA and the European Union.

That is why, when Andrés lost the cholas, he knew that he would not be able to have new ones because his family did not have enough to buy them. His mother has also suffered from severe anemia for years and cannot work.

Faced with this adversity, the young man managed to create his own cholas. He looked for tutorials on the internet, he took advantage of the experience of a neighbor and his carpenter grandfather, with whom he learned to use materials and tools from a young age in his workshop, a place that was destroyed after a fire and that they now want to recover.

Andrés took an abandoned rubber, took some pieces and began to shape them, got some fabrics to put them as braids, used the nail of a high-heeled shoe to sew the shoe, burned the leftover thread with a tinderbox, and that's it, I already had new cholas.

Since he liked what he had done, Andrés —who is in his third year of high school— suggested to his mother that they make cholas and sell them to have an income that they could generate from home. The only difficulty was getting the tires, but they began to ask for them as donations or to look in 'chiveras', where used tires are purchased at low cost.

Andrés's first design was not so pretty, his mother comments to RT, but his commitment and determination led him to improve more and more in the making of the cholas, which now wear his "Calzados Andrés López" insignia.

successful entrepreneurship

Andrés's mother accompanied his son's initiative and gave him all his support. She opened an Instagram account to promote the cholas and offer them for sale. Thus, little by little, orders for cholas have been growing and their business has gradually taken shape by receiving purchase requests from different cities in Venezuela.

The entrepreneurship of Andrés and his family also stands out because it has served to strengthen their relationship with the community and to give donations to the most needy people. Each pair of cholas that Andrés makes has a value of 6 dollars.

Kalian pernah gak confesses ke orang yang kalian taksir? Terus outcomenya gimana?

— 🐬 Sat Jul 24 09:44:47 +0000 2021

There are children, above all, from poor families who don't have shoes, and Andrés, when he has the opportunity, gives them a pair of cholas. He also barters by offering a pair of flip flops in exchange for something he needs for his business or his house.

His work has been referenced in different local and international media and some companies have supported him with donations of materials for the production of his shoes, a logo for his company and even uniforms and masks. In fact, on one occasion, a person made an order of more than 30 pairs of cholas to be donated during Children's Day.

His mother does not hide her pride because her son is doing something that she likes while studying from home, continuing with his baseball practices and sharing with his friends. "He is still a child," insists Cabrera.

"I feel proud and grateful to all the people who have supported me. Now everyone who passes by my house, when I see under the bars, is wearing my cholas. I hope to have my company, be an entrepreneur and fulfill my dream , which is being professional in baseball," he says.

"I want to be a ballplayer!"

Andrés, barely 15 years old, wants to carve out his own path and never stops dreaming of being a baseball player to wear the uniform of the Tiburones de La Guaira, in Venezuela, and the Houston Astros, in the US Major Leagues.

At the moment, he plays shortstop, a fundamental position in baseball that requires great agility and speed with his legs, "good hands" to easily pick up opponents' balls and a powerful arm to put ' out' to opponents.

This young baseball player, who follows the central fielder of the Atlanta Braves, Venezuelan Ronald Acuña Jr., as his idol, was born in Ciudad Bolívar, Bolívar state, in eastern Venezuela, a country that is recognized as "the cradle" of the best shortstops in history. Among them are names like Alfonso 'Chico' Carrasquel, Luis Aparicio, member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, Omar Vizquel, David Concepción, Oswaldo Guillén, among many others.

As a shortstop, Andres knows he must be a leader for his team, both on the field and in the dugout—the area of ​​the baseball field where a club bench is—because the player at this position is often given the team captaincy. That leadership capacity has already given him positive results in his life plans with his family.

"I tell young people to fulfill their dreams, that everything can be achieved, that nothing is impossible, and to parents, to support their children a lot," says Andrés, who still says he is amazed because he did not think his story would reach so many people.

Orlando Rangel Y.

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