Every day at our sites in Léogane, Haiti, we have hundreds of happy, healthy kids excelling as leaders on the soccer field, in the classroom, and in their communities. They debate what leadership means to them, their communities’ biggest needs, and the importance of gender equality. They scarf down big, hot plates of food and wear crisp soccer uniforms with an enormous amount of pride.
Haiti is one of the hardest places in the world to grow up. In a country where secondary school enrollment is just 19% and most families eke out a living on just $2USD a day, our players have big dreams of completing school, building careers, and helping others. They want children to have shoes, attend school, get medicine and drink clean water. They want communities to have electricity, roads, and water pumps.
GOALS also has big dreams. We are committed to laying the groundwork for a solid foundation now so that in the future we can help many more children and families throughout Haiti. We push for excellence from our players and staff members every day to be the strongest leaders they can be. This expectation of effort, commitment, and passion apply to every single person on ‘Team GOALS.’
As a result, our participants’ experiences have steadily improved. Thanks to our in-kind donors, our players have the equipment they need. Your support has provided our players with more food, more match time, and more classroom supplies than ever before. New health partnerships mean that we can now offer free consultations, medication, and community screenings to Léogane families. We are fulfilling our mission to improve quality of life now in order to best empower our players to achieve their ambitions.
Together, we moved mountains this past year. GOALS won the Beyond Sport trophy for “Best New Project," grew the Dream Team Scholarship Program, and fought floods during Hurricane Sandy.
All of these accomplishments are thanks to you, our network of team members that stretches around the world. We are incredibly grateful for your support, in all its forms, and are proud that we have been able to deliver you with such significant results. Since 2010, we have had a direct impact on over 6,300 different people in Haiti and we can’t wait to help even more people in the year ahead.
At the heart of what we do is empower children in need to become healthier and happier. In the upcoming year, during our proudest achievements and toughest challenges, this is what will drive us. Our players and coaches have all the potential in the world to make big things happen. I believe in their dreams, and am inspired by the progress we’ve made together. At the end of the day, there is no better feeling than knowing our participants are growing into the strong young leaders their communities need, and are doing so with hard work, full bellies, and big smiles.
On behalf of everyone at GOALS, mèsi mil fwa – a thousand thanks!
Sincerely yours,
Kona Shen
Founder & Director