If there is one continent out there that can truly be said to be untouched by baseball, it is likely Africa. Baseball is, of course, popular in North America, Asia, and parts of South America. There are small professional leagues in Europe (mainly the Netherlands and Italy) and Australia. But Africa, birthplace of humanity, is in some ways the final frontier of baseball. Only South Africa has any sort of baseball tradition, playing in the first two World Baseball Classics and producing several minor leaguers over the years, most notably Gift Ngoepe, the first black South African to play professionally, who was featured in a Sports Illustrated article a few years ago. South Africa, however, is one of the most advanced nations in Africa, and has, since the end of Apartheid, been more-or-less a country that has avoided much of the strife and war that has plagued several African countries.

The same cannot be said for Uganda, which makes the accomplishment of the Ugandan Little League team all the more special.

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Uganda is a country in East-Central Africa, a little smaller than Oregon, according to the CIA World Factbook. Achieving independence from the United Kingdom in 1962, it has had a tumultuous history, undergoing military coups, civil wars, and a secession of tyrants such as Idi Amin and Milton Obote. Although Uganda has since the late 1980s been a relatively stable country, but it is also rated as one of the most corrupt, with it’s current president, Yoweri Museveni, having held office since 1986, with no term limits and only limited support for political parties.

Despite this stability, make no mistake that Uganda is most definitely a developing country. Life expectancy at birth is only 53.45 years, 6.5% of the adult population is estimated to be living with HIV, only two-thirds of the population is literate, and the poverty rate is high. The Lord’s Resistance Army, a fundamentalist cult led by Joseph Kony, has for years raged a horrific insurgency in the northern part of the country and in neighboring nations, using child soldiers and other horrific war crimes in the process.

And yet, from the southern part of Uganda, in the town of Lugazi, comes a team of Little Leaguers. Their league is young, founded by a minor league part-owner who was approached about the idea when he was on a trip because of a UN initiative. It isn’t the only Little League in Uganda- another, located in Kampala, qualified for the LLWS last year but couldn’t go due to visa issues- but it is the first to make it to Williamsport. To do so, they had to go through the Middle East and Africa qualifying bracket, which is traditionally dominated by American-born children who live overseas in oil company compounds or military bases. And yet, they won. And, more importantly, they all were able to get visas, allowing them to come over.

It has apparently been a culture shock for the kids: in Uganda, they often practice and play barefoot, play on old soccer fields, and share almost all of their equipment. Now, they are playing on MLB-level fields, have fancy uniforms, top-of-the-line equipment, and are playing in front of crowds of thousands, most of whom are cheering on the underdog story. It’s unlikely that they will win a game in Williamsport- they have already lost to Panama- but they have shown they can play, and, perhaps, have inspired future generations in the process, not only in Uganda, but across all of Africa, and the world.