Giving Back

Community service is a core part of GOALS’ work in Haiti. It is a way for our kids to give back and learn the importance of volunteerism. To be on a team and play soccer they all commit volunteer hours on projects that will benefit their community.

Community service includes local development projects that involve players’ families and adults in the area. Service also includes activities and events organized for children younger than 10 years old, and players who don’t yet have places on local GOALS teams.

The kids submit ideas for proposed projects and with our staff they are provided the means to take charge of their own reasonable project.

Unlike other aspects of their life they may not be able to control, volunteering allows them to choose where and how to make a difference. It’s easy to get inspired with a cause they truly care about—and it’s rewarding for them to see their direct impact.

This year, the kids in Carrefour Croix painted the water faucets with bright colors to match their enthusiasm for the programs. The water faucets are a wonderful meeting place for the community members to meet and talk given there is no other water source in this community.

For the Destra kids, their priority was to fix the road leading to their isolated community. To get there, you must go on a road that runs through a sugar plantation for at least a mile. When it rains, the road is impossible for cars. At times even, taxi motorcyclists must avoid the road. It is the same road the kids must take to get their school.  Their presence in school is affected by the quality of the road. We assisted them with the tools and supplies to fix part of the road themselves.

As for the kids in Bossan, they had a bigger need since their field was recently bought by a foreign businessman to build a hotel. After a meeting where we demonstrated the importance of the programs to the community we were able to convince the owner of the sugar cane field next door to allow us to use the field next door. The Bossan kids have taken on the responsibility to clear the field so they can start using it in January.

From the kids’ tree nursery that they have been tending all year we have been able to plant over 3k trees. Most recently we planted 1,300 trees in rural Léogane over two days. 100 kids participated, and trees included mango, cherry, avocado and flamboyant.

These projects are a great way for the kids to give back to their villages and serve as important learning opportunities for these bright young community leaders.

 

Proud Graduates

Our literacy class held ceremonies last month where kids accepted their certificates of graduation in front of proud parents and GOALS staff members.

Their teacher Madame Sangla Cenatus taught the kids in her classes over the past 7 months. Her classes are full of energy as she incorporates dancing and singing in her literacy and numeracy course.

Of the 25 kids 23 kids passed their final exams, and only two did not pass.  Most importantly, the average test score for the class had jumped to 6.42/10 up from mid-term testing.

To celebrate their achievements, kids showed up in their Sunday best along with their parents and friends for the event.  A few students told the audience about the importance of the literacy program to them.  Other talented kids from the community were asked to present a sketch about how literacy can help with social inclusion and upward mobility in Haiti.  Finally, some kids prepared a choreographed dance routine for the occasion with music blasting.  It was the biggest event in Bossan that afternoon.

GOALS staff members Emilio, Jean Kendy and James gave a short speech explaining the importance of the program.  Madame Sangla also talked about how pleased she was to see her students improving their reading and writing skills over the few months that she taught them.  They had come a long way and we were all proud of them.

All the students were happy not only of the fact that they could now read and write, or in some cases, had improved on their low literacy skills, but also of the fact that their parents were full of pride with them.  At the end of the ceremony, parents were asking GOALS staff members to please take a picture of them with their graduating kid. As one parent told us, "It is because of GOALS, that some students who didn't know how to read and write, learned to read, write and to count.  This will motivate them to give education a lot more importance or value."

We hope this achievement will empower the kids to continue to go to school so they can continue with their education.

As GOALS Haiti strives to empower people in their communities, the ability to read and write is extremely important in the fight against social exclusion in Haiti.

 

Seeing GOALS in action: a truly eye-opening experience

It is one thing to kick start fundraising campaigns, to donate money and equipment, or to raise awareness for a charity. But it’s a whole other experience to see and understand the value of the work you put in, on the people it directly impacts. Travelling to where your work manifests itself, and journeying to different locations that might have remnants of the work you put in from far, far away can have a truly lasting impact.

I first got involved with GOALS in 2014, searching the internet for a service project for my Bar Mitzvah. I knew I wanted to raise money for a charity that somehow involved soccer but also had its roots in a developing country. Up came GOALS Haiti, the perfect match.

In appealing for money through friends, family, and their connections, I raised enough funds to sponsor one GOALS team. The team I chose is called the Boys’ and Girls’ Ti Poisson team, based out of Carrefour Croix. It was such a success that we have continued our sponsorship of the team for the past few years. It is great to get updates on how the team was doing, letters from the students, and postcards from the team thanking them for my sponsorship — but the most truly eye-opening experience was going to Haiti and seeing the GOALS teams in action.

This summer was my “eye opening” experience, my 3-day trip to Haiti to see the country and the GOALS Operations in Leogane and the surrounding villages. On the way to the village of Destra was the village of Carrefour Croix, where my sponsored team is from! I was so excited when I realized that the group of kids who had just piled into the back of the pickup truck I was in was the team I had sponsored. I thought to myself, “I get to see kids wearing clothes I had donated, playing the game I love, all with my help.” Arriving at the field site we were welcomed by young kids not yet old enough to play and an astonishing view of the surrounding mountains.

One of GOALS’ best coaches, a clearly well-liked and charismatic woman, was leading a pre-game cheer/activity with the kids. The kids were having so much fun doing something as simple as a group warm-up combined with a song and dance. After trying to communicate with some of the kids on the sideline and carrying a few around, the game started. I was shocked to see how many people showed up. A girls’ game with so much support in a country that has issues with gender equity is a powerful thing. This, I think, can attest to the substantial impact that GOALS has on the communities it exists in -- changing cultural norms for the betterment of society, little by little. The game was lots of fun to watch. People all around were gathered for the love of GOALS and the game of soccer.

After the game, we left and walked a bit into the town of Destra, maybe about 200 yards away. I was quite surprised; I expected the villages I had heard so much about to be much larger and have a bit more infrastructure. This town was quite small and did not have a road going through it.  We had a basic lunch in the schoolroom of the Destra Community Center. The center has clearly become the focal point of the village, with boys, girls, men, and women of all different ages gathered around, talking, eating lunch, and shucking coconuts.

All in all, I had seen the team I had sponsored in Carrefour Croix, a game at the Destra field, a coach in action, and a squadron of spectators who rely on or are connected with someone who relies on GOALS in some way. A community center, another GOALS town, and a school room with a chalk board. All thanks to GOALS, and the work of those supporting the organization. It was seeing it all in action, not just observing from far away. This, I can assure you, is what it means to see your work in action. And it is a truly invaluable experience. - Max R 

A Perfect Match!

It is the perfect match – soccer and learning. We have seen the impact on our kids as well as entire communities through our sport for development model. Soccer is the most popular sport in Haiti and all of our kids love to play it. It is through that love that our kids immerse themselves in learning.

They come together daily for practice with their team mates and coaches. My favorite part of the day is to see the kids coming from all directions.  The older kids help the younger kids, not only with their soccer skills, but even with tying their shoes.

They tell us that GOALS has helped them to be healthier, get an education and be a better friend. After school programs are rare in Haiti and kids are hungry for inclusion. They welcome the opportunity to participate in our other programs such as literacy and community service.

Being part of something bigger and giving back to their communities teaches important skills and gives them a sense of pride.

“I love soccer. When I started back in 2010 girls’ soccer was not that popular in Haiti. But GOALS brought that opportunity here. Now the community sees how it can take us further. I started volunteering with GOALS because I wanted to see the program grow. Now I am working with the little kids helping them to learn, play and grow.” – Rosemirlande, former GOALS student & current Coach

Currently we are in need of raising 20K in team sponsorship support that provides daily programing for 25 kids for one year. Through a generous match offer from one of our longest supporters every dollar contributed between Oct 18th and Dec 20th will be matched dollar for dollar up to 10k.

Help us reach our target and stretch your gift even farther by taking advantage of our match opportunity. Together with your support we are providing the vision that is creating young leaders.

Join us in changing entire communities and fostering growth in rural Haiti through team GOALS.

Sincerely,

Kathy McAllister
Impact Director

1 Day, 75 kids, 3 coaches & 1k trees planted

The goal of our tree nursery project was to teach our kids about the environment and the importance of planting trees. With the help from our agronomist our Bossan team kids planted 2k tree seedlings over the summer.

This project took on an even greater relevance due to the devastation caused by hurricane Matthew last October, which Haiti is still recovering from. The importance of planting trees in Haiti has long been talked about but now there appears to be evidence that they can actually reduce the likelihood and severity of hurricanes (check out this article if interested).

The Grand’Anse region which is one of the lushest areas of Haiti was the hardest hit by Matthew, the greenery and agriculture in the region was almost completely wiped out.  We decided we wanted to contribute to the reforestation of the region.

Recently we loaded up a “tap tap” and buses with staff members, our Agronomist Onel, 3 coaches along with 75 kids from our communities to go plant trees from our nursery. We went to a community near Les Cayes which is 4 hours from our sites. We had one truck just for the saplings which included 1,000 plants varying from moringa, mangos and flamboyant trees.  

The kids and everyone else were excited for this rare outing to do community service outside of their own communities. We collaborated with a local agronomist Yvette, and she partnered for us with a local youth group. The community we worked with is called Madan Comb, which is 15 minutes outside of Les Cayes.  We spent the day unloading and planting trees and after lunch we organized a small soccer game for our kids with the local youth group.  The score was not what was important but the camaraderie and the sense of community that both our kids and the kids from Madan Comb experienced were. In the end, it was a great outing for all of us.

Most of our community service projects are done within our own community.  It is important for our kids, who have never left their own town, to understand the need to give back to others beyond their community. Taking our kids outside of Leogane to collaborate with other community leaders for a good cause is part of the process of creating future leaders of the country. 

We plan to plant the remaining tree seedlings within our communities in the coming weeks and look to replant the tree nursery with a new crop next year.

Annual Report - Ann ale! - Let's Go!

Dear Friends,

It is my pleasure to present our annual report.  It has been a productive time for GOALS and you can see some of the highlights that we are happy to share with you.

Your support has made the difference in the daily lives of our kids, their families and their whole communities.

Through programs running strong, lessons learned and rising to the challenge of natural disasters, our staff has been committed to our mission: to advance youth leadership through soccer and education to create stronger, healthier communities in rural Haiti.

Thank you for being a part of Team GOALS!  I look forward to sharing our progress with you and as always if you have any questions or want to learn more feel free to reach out to me.

Best, Kathy

Kathy McAllister
kmcallister@goalshaiti.org
Impact Director - GOALS Haiti

 

Recycling in Rural Haiti

If you have ever been to Haiti then you probably have noticed all of the soda and water plastic bottles littering the environment in some areas.  Because there are not a lot of garbage collection or recycling centers in Haiti, a lot of those bottles usually end up on our beaches from having been washed up in our rivers.  Subsequently, they also end up in our seas causing environmental damage.   

To tackle this problem, GOALS recently teamed up with the Tropical Recycling Company to restart our recycling program.  That collaboration was arranged through our partnership with the Caribbean Bottling Company.

Starting at the beginning of July, GOALS received 10 large recycling bags that were placed on our different fields. Our kids have started recycling the plastic bottles that are littering their environment.  It is great to see them get involved and take an active interest in cleaning up their communities. To launch the program, GOALS started with a small contest between all the fields to see who can collect the most bottles.  The prize for the winning team will be a field trip to visit a museum in the capitol. Since many of our kids have never left rural Leogane this is a great opportunity to explore their country and culture.   

The benefits of this program are not only the obvious of cleaner spaces and increased volunteerism in the community but also potential for income producing activity through the sales of recycled materials.

Join us in our work to support strong communities in rural Haiti. 

Learning and Growing

Our award winning literacy program is going strong and our new classes started in April in Bossan. We are pleased to have a new teacher Mme Sangla Senatus. Because of high demand for a spot in the classes we have had to separate the kids to have classes for the younger kids and the older kids so we now have two sessions instead of one.

In the isolated, subsistence-based villages where GOALS works, there are no schools, no paved roads and no electricity or running water. Nearly all adults are low- or non-literate and just 72% of children attend school. The ‘Leveling the Playing Field’ literacy project uses the power of sport to build locally-led literacy programming in order to create fully literate communities, thereby improving local leadership, health and future earning potential.

To date, 64 children and 20 adults have successfully completed the program, each achieving measurable progression in learning. As a group, students have improved from a starting average test score of 13% to a final score of 66%.

For children who cannot attend school and adults who never had the opportunity, the GOALS literacy program provides their first chance to learn to read and write, establishing a more equitable playing field for everyone.

Our literacy teacher Sangla teaching our kids

We hope to bring our literacy program to all those that need it in our villages as we know it provides life changing results. Join us in changing the playing field and impacting our communities one child at a time, consider donating today!

GOALS is changing lives through soccer, and creating new opportunities for Haiti’s brightest young leaders and you are a part of that important work.

We know that we could not achieve our vision without support like yours.

 
 

Introducing our New Impact Director!

Dear GOALS family,
As you know, we’ve had some big leadership changes in the past few months. Jolinda did an amazing job recruiting a one-of-a-kind Country Director, James, before she stepped down as Executive Director in December.

For the Board of Directors, knowing that Jolinda was stepping down was daunting. She is irreplaceable, dearly loved, and leaves very big shoes to fill. That is why it is so exciting for me to introduce you to our new Impact Director, Kathy McAllister. Together, Kathy and James are our new executive leadership team, and with two phenomenal new directors at the helm, we couldn’t be more excited about GOALS’ future.

In joining GOALS, Kathy brings with her an impressive list of accomplishments: she first lived in Haiti as a Peace Corps volunteer and went on to found a Haiti-based nonprofit organization. She has over ten years of nonprofit experience, ranging from grassroots organizations to multi-million dollar foundations. Her work has included strategic planning, finance and administration, fundraising, and communications. Most importantly of all, she has a deep-seated love of Haiti based on her personal experiences, her work, and her impressive expertise. Kathy writes:

"Working with GOALS is an exciting opportunity for me as it allows me to use my experience and skills for a program that I know is helping kids to actively engage in a positive way in their communities. The development through sports program is fostering individual leadership and good health while mentoring volunteerism and community development. Along with James Louis-Charles, I look forward to continuing the great work that has been established by the founder and Board Chair Kona Shen and the previous Executive Director Jolinda Hackett."

Kathy began in January, and she has hit the ground running in a truly impressive way. She immediately helped us increase our capacity in innumerable ways, and I have no doubt that she is going to help GOALS improve as an organization.

We have always prided ourselves at GOALS for prioritizing our programs, our local staff, and our results in rural Haiti. Until now, we have never had an employee based full-time in the United States. As GOALS prepares to turn seven, the Board felt strongly that this was the right time to invest more fully in our U.S.-based operations, many of which are impossible to manage in Leogane, Haiti.

One of Kathy’s primary roles can be described as this: to dramatically improve how we measure, share, and support our programs for children in rural Haiti. She will wear multiple hats, from Chief Storyteller to Development Officer. As an organization, we care about your experience as a member of “Team GOALS.” We want to know about how we can improve your experience as a donor, and what questions you may have about our impact. These questions will guide much of Kathy’s work in her first year, and we hope you will reach out to her directly with your thoughts.

On that note, thank you for your ongoing support of GOALS. I hope you’ll join me in welcoming Kathy as our phenomenal new Impact Director, and I look forward to sharing our results as we work together to make GOALS better than ever before.

With love,
Kona
Founder & Board Chair

 
 

Celebrating Jolinda

Leadership transitions are always tough for young organizations—and especially so when the outgoing leaders are as strong, caring, and irreplaceable as Jolinda Hackett. Jolinda joined GOALS back in January 2012, and two years later, she became our second-ever Executive Director. Three years later, Jolinda's term as Executive Director has ended, and we owe her an enormous thank you for her hard work. As I wrote in 2012:

"Jolinda has been making a difference on the ground in Haiti for over three years now. Since joining GOALS in January 2012, she has proven to be an exceptional asset. She is fluent in Haitian Creole, extraordinarily impactful, and takes on oversized challenges with a smile. Not only has she weathered hurricanes with us (two, in fact!), but she worked alongside our coaches and players to lead clean-up efforts afterwards as well. As a program manager and then Country Director, Jolinda has been responsible for many of our proudest moments, including winning the Beyond Sport award in London, partnering with Coaches Across Continents ... and the Klinik Lasante for health services, and sending some of our most talented girls to the national youth football training academy."

I have heard time and time again from partners, donors, and volunteers about Jolinda's extraordinary abilities leading GOALS' programs in Haiti. I have personally appreciated our adventures hiking up and down Haiti's beautiful mountains and trekking around the country in pursuit of Kanaval, R&R, and Barbancourt. If you visit our programs, you'll hear one thing from our kids over and over again: "kòt Jolinda? Where's Jolinda?"

Kona and Jolinda

We benefited from having Jolinda as our organization's leader for far longer than we had hoped to expect back in 2012. As Executive Director, her accomplishments are impossible to summarize in just one blog post, but the highlights include:

  • The construction of GOALS' very own community center in Destra, which recently weathered Hurricane Matthew 
  • Winning our second-ever international Beyond Sport Award for a truly incredibly youth literacy program 
  • Helping our first-ever Jovan Julien Dream Team Scholarship students graduate from high school!

There are many more accomplishments that we could share. In addition, Jolinda has helped increase GOALS' capacity internally, which is less glamorous, but just as critical to our organization as we near our seventh year. This work would be difficult anywhere, and Jolinda has led GOALS under extremely difficult conditions in rural Haiti. Under Jolinda's leadership, GOALS weathered multiple hurricanes, grieved the losses of players who have passed away, and kept things running smoothly amidst tumultuous political upheavals in Haiti.

It is impossible to share what Jolinda has meant to GOALS over the past five years. From our youngest players—whom Jolinda called our "ti pwason," or "little fishes"—to our founding Board members, we thank Jolinda for her hard work and her big heart. GOALS, along with all of our far-flung members of "Team GOALS," is better as a result.

Thank you,
Kona
Founder & Board Chair

PS - We are excited to introduce our newest Director who is helping GOALS with this transition, and beyond - more news coming soon!