GOALS Haiti embraces new perspectives on Social Inclusion

Jean Kendy Estimphil and Carl-Henry Petit-Frère, respectively our Operations Manager and Program Director attended a workshop related to social inclusion and gender equality in Washington DC which was been organized by streetfootballworld in collaboration with DC Score with the objective to create a safe place in the world for everyone through sports especially soccer. We were joined by more than 13 non-profit organizations that use soccer for development from 5 countries in north America and the Caribbean.

It was a great time to meet 25 amazing people who are working to create an inclusive space for kids, youth and minorities in sports. It was a wonderful moment for each coach and facilitator to share their experience and the challenges they have faced in implementing this program.

The main purpose of this cohort was to move forward with the Play Proud project which is a new initiative from Streetfootballworld designed to protect the most vulnerable players in sports. Play Proud seeks to make the soccer environment a safe space for youth regardless of their diversity, by educating coaches and staff about the challenges facing youth in their community and personal lives. This work aims to accompany vulnerable groups to enhance them having opportunities to accept themselves and become more confident in themselves including the fact they spread happiness around them and feel protected against violence, discrimination and abuses and all forms of exploitation.

Creating a safe place for youth soccer players in rural communities is one of GOALS HAITI objectives. Taking part in the workshop is a way to share with the world that we are striving to create safe place for all kids and youth in the rural areas that we serve in Haiti. It’s also an opportunity to learn from organizations working in our same field. We participated in gaining a better understanding of social inclusion and gender equality that we can share back to our coaches by using new games, songs and activities related to social inclusion.

Even though we operate in a very challenging context as a grassroots organization, we see a window of hope through this network where we can find the best methodologies to address sensitive questions. We will have a team from GOALS start working together and implement actions which will allow us to have open conversations. We consider this as a momentum that will help us to have a better understanding of this social issue in sports and they will have enough strategy to face these challenges in their team or in their communities related to social inclusion.