L’Athlétique d’Haïti Projects

School and Sport Academy

NEED: Out of 1,032 schools in Port-au-Prince, only four offer sports to their students.  While the law provides for athletic programs, there are neither funds, fields nor physical education teachers.  In a country where soccer is a national obsession, the lack of sports programs deprives young people of the opportunity to acquire self esteem, discipline and dedication – the skills developed through playing sports.

RESPONSE: Over the past 15 years, l’Athlétique d’Haïti has offered a social program that allows the disadvanteged youth in some of the poorest communities across Haiti an opportunity to develop physically and mentally through sports.

Currently, l’Athlétique d’Haïti serves over 2000 children in five different locations in Haiti: two in Port-au-Prince (Drouillard and Cite Soleil), one in Jeremy, one in Delande (Artibonite) and one Simonette.  Two additional locations will be added in 2011, in Gonaives, north of Port au Prince, and in Aquin,  in the south of Haiti.

The LADH program offers in-house schooling for 180 boys and girls who can’t afford tuition.  Even though Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haitians have to pay for school.   Tuition fees may be as low as $60 per year to school a child, there are additional fees such as school uniforms and books that can make the cost of school far exceed the family’s ability to pay.

LADH is seeking to expand its schooling program through additional funding.

“While many children and parents see the club as a way to make it to the Haitian National team and also as a route 
to college scholarships or professional teams outside of Haiti, there’s more to the program than sports.  By encouraging youngsters from wealthier families to compete with those from the slums, Robert Duval is also chipping away at the barriers of long divided Haitian society.  And as Duval points out, ‘Some of these kids have a lot of talent, not only for soccer.  Maybe it’s school or music or writing poetry.  But sports will lift them to the next level of life.’” - Finbar O’Reilly, National Post, Canada

A Ganar program:

Through a partnership with Partners of the Americas, USAID and IDB, and Fondation Espoirt,  LADH was chosen to implement the    A Ganar program in Haiti.  This program was launched in January 2011, and will be serve 400 youths from 16 to 24 years old by teaching them vocational skills and entrepreneur skills.  This program which has been established for five years in other latin American countries uses the cornerstone of sports to teach life and work skills to youths.  It will teach respect, confidence, self esteem, using sport as a metaphor for learning lessons.  The program will teach youths on the job skills, entrepreneur skills, finance, computers, and people skills.  It will place them in different professions, in internships and with mentors for a period of 2 years to ensure long term success.

Coaching Program

LADH is developing a coaching program for 2011, starting with 70 coaches being trained at its sport complex in Cite Soleil in February of 2011.  The program was develop by our US friend and partner, John Evans.  It was a tremendous success

Hospital/Cholera Center

In November 2010, after the cholera outbreak, LADH partnered up with Samaritan’s Purse and USAID to open up a 200 bed hospital and cholera center at the LADH site in Cite Soleil.  Many patients were treated and lives saved, not only for cholera but also other ailments and emergencies.  The hospital will be turned into a large school by LADH  when it will no longer be in use as a treatment center.

Recycling and Composting Center

In December 2010, LADH built a bigger recycling and composting center, which will serve as a study center for composting and recycling.  It will also provide work and lively hood opportunities for the people in Cite Soleil.  Trash into cash is a program that is watched closely by many as it is replicable throughout Haiti.  The project is a partnership between French non profit organizations, the Municipality of Cite Soleil, and LADH.

Stadium and Robert Village

The stadium project which had it first stone ceremony in 2008 suffered some setback after the earthquake.  Then, like the phoenix that rose out of the ashes, the stadium project benefited from the leadership of Robert Duval, who took the rubble from the earthquake and used it to provide jobs and build up the terrain on which the stadium is to be constructed.  8000 truckloads of earthquake rubble and $100,000 paid out to the local people allowed the ground to be raised 7 ft higher to provide the necessary drainage for the field.  Now, the next step is to put in bleachers and finish the administration building.  Many thanks go  to LADH’s partners and sponsors, among whom is Sogebank, our largest donor.

In March 2011, LADH will be receiving a Dutch delegation of donors and investors  thanks to Haiti Contact, our dutch partner.  They will be doing a funding study for the completion of the Stadium, a hospital and academy, and housing village concept.

Click here to visit the plans for Robert Stadium at Robert Village

You can help the poorest kids in Haiti learn and play:

“$25, $50 or whatever you can afford will make such a difference and help us keep the program going.  Thank you so much for your donation” -Boby Duval, President, Fondation L’Athletique D’Haiti

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