Who is Ramiro Balentina?
Early youth
My name is Ramiro Aureliano Balentina (R.A.B.).
I was born on August 10, 1974, in Curaçao. I’m the second of four brothers. Like many families on the island, we grew up without a father. My mother raised us on her own while working as a nurse at the hospital. She carried everything on her shoulders.
As a kid, I was sharp in school, especially in math. I loved sports, but baseball was my passion. When I was five years old, my mother allowed me to join my older brother at practice.
He passed away in 2017 after a tragic accident. He was only 44 years old, far too young. Losing him like that made me realize how fragile life really is. He remains one of the biggest influences in my life.
Like any young boy, I had dreams. I wanted to become an accountant and move to the United States to play professional baseball.
Losing Direction
After primary school, things started to change. Around the age of seventeen, my home situation and personal struggles began to affect me. School stopped going well. I failed the same grade twice and had to move to a lower level. That hit me hard and people started treating me differently. At least, that’s how it felt.
Looking back now, I understand it was shame. I felt like I wasn’t good enough anymore. Because of that, I stopped trying. Eventually, I dropped out completely.
At the same time, my baseball talent was growing. My coach told me scouts were coming to Curaçao to see me.
That day… I didn’t show up for the try-out...
It took me more than 30 years to understand why. It was fear.
Fear of failing. Fear of not being good enough. That fear held me back from chasing my dream. Someone else got signed that day and went on to have a great career and even became a Hall of Famer.
That moment stayed with me for a long time.
At that point, both of my dreams were gone.
The Wrong Path
I was disappointed in myself. Angry. Lost. I started going against everything and got involved in the wrong things. From there, things went downhill. I stopped going to school. I stopped playing baseball. I lost direction.
Eventually, I moved to the Netherlands, hoping to find something better—maybe even a connection with my father.
But that didn’t go the way I hoped. He had built a life there, but he wasn’t there for me, my brothers, or my mother. As a father myself now, I still can’t understand that.
Again, I felt like I didn’t belong. Like I wasn’t good enough.
And again, I made the wrong choices.
Eventually, I got into trouble with the law and ended up in prison.
A Turning Point
In prison, I earned my first real diploma.
Around that time, I went to watch a baseball game for the first time in years. I saw old teammates, people who knew my talent. They asked me why I had stopped.
The truth? I didn’t believe in myself anymore. I thought it was too late. So again… I let the opportunity pass.
Years later, I started playing softball with friends. Then a coach invited me to baseball practice. I hesitated for a long time, but this time, I went. It was 2010. The first time in years I held a wooden bat again.
That season, I won two individual awards on my team. That’s when I realized I still had it. And more importantly, I realized how much I had missed the game.
In 2011, I was invited to play for Team Curaçao at the World Port Tournament in Rotterdam. The last time I played for my country before that was in 1995. That moment meant everything to me.
That same year, I also got invited to train with the Dutch national team. But after one training, it stopped. Later, I heard that some players had spoken to the coach about my past and my time in prison. That could have broken me.
But this time—I didn’t quit. I was finding my way back.
Growth, Leadership & Finding Love
From that moment on, things slowly started changing. It wasn’t easy. There were still ups and downs. But I started working on myself. I had to rebuild my confidence. I had to learn to trust again.
One coach saw something in me I didn’t even see myself. He told me I could be a great catcher, not just because of my own performance, but because I made pitchers better. That changed everything.
That year, we became champions. The team saw me as a leader, even though I wasn’t the loudest one. I was the one guiding, supporting, and lifting others. That gave me a confidence boost I had never felt before.
I also became involved in a project in the Netherlands called “Alleen jij bepaalt wie je bent” (Only you decide who you are), helping young people stay on the right path through sports.
Back to Curaçao
In 2013, I was invited again to play for Team Curaçao. I accepted immediately. After a strong tournament, I was asked to come back to Curaçao to play in the local league. I joined a team, and we became champions right away. Then again the next year, and the year after that. Three championships in a row.
For me, that was more than winning, it was personal redemption.
During this period, something else changed in my life. I met my wife.
She brought peace into my life at a time I really needed it. She believed in me when I didn’t fully believe in myself yet. She stood by me, supported me, and helped me stay focused. That stability made a big difference.
Together, we started building a life, and eventually also a business. Today, she is with me on every step I take and supports me.
Ami Mi Mes I Mi Logronan
In 2014, I was asked to bring the youth project from the Netherlands to Curaçao. That’s when I started Ami Mi Mes I Mi Logronan.
In the peak years of the project, we had multiple groups training every single day. Kids were playing baseball, football, basketball—different sports, different kids, all coming together.
We expanded across the Kingdom to Aruba, Bonaire, St. Maarten. We organized multiple Kingdom Tournaments, bringing together hundreds of kids.
Kids who normally would never get opportunities like that.
Seeing them train, compete, laugh, and grow together… that was something special. That was the reward for everything I had been through and everything I was putting in.
Then COVID came.
And everything stopped.
For a moment, it felt like all that work was gone.
founding rise above barriers
But I knew this wasn’t the end.
On April 12, 2023, I founded the Rise Above Barriers Foundation. I felt a strong responsibility to continue helping vulnerable kids and give them direction. I started from zero again. With just 10 kids in a gym. We picked them up every day. We gave them clothes, a warm meal, structure, and guidance. Step by step, we started building again. Selling merchandise, organizing fundraiser events and trying to raise funds.
In 2025, the Ministry of Justice in the Netherlands reconnected with us, and we began expanding once more with more kids and more sports.
Today, we still pick up the kids from school every day with our own bus. We make sure they have food, clothing, and support.
But the real reward is simple. It’s the smile on their faces.
The trust they give me. That’s what I do it for.
my personal yourney and purpose
Today, with the help of GOD, I have overcome the barriers that once stood in my way to success. I now have the confidence to keep developing the talents GOD has given me. One of the biggest barriers I had to overcome was FEAR.
Today, I understand that fear is one of the greatest enemies on the path to success in life. The best things in life are often placed on the other side of that fear. For many years, fear controlled my decisions. It held me back from opportunities, from growth, and from becoming the person I was meant to be. But that has changed.
Fear no longer controls my life. The moment I truly understood this, my self-confidence started to grow stronger than ever before.
At the same time, I’ve been on my own journey, processing everything I’ve been through in life. Because I realized that if you don’t heal yourself, you can’t truly help others. I’ve gone through my own transformation. Mentally. Emotionally. Spiritually.
Yes, for a long time I regretted that one moment… that day I didn’t show up for the scouts. But today, I see it differently. That path was not meant for me.
