Haitian Initiative

The Haitian Initiative (HI) is a collaboration of partners working together to bring sustainable programs to Haiti using soccer as a catalyst to combat the cycle of poverty. The program is designed to motivate kids to stay in school. Regular school attendance and passing grades are a requirement to participate in the program. Practice and games occur six days a week. After every practice the players receive a hot vitamin fortified meal provided by another Minnesota based organization known as Feed My Starving Children. For the vast majority of HI participants, this meal represents their only meal for the day. As a result of this program’s sustained success, The Sanneh Foundation is one of only nine organizations worldwide chosen by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) to lead and implement an International Sports Programming Initiative (ISPI) reciprocal exchange program on behalf of the Department of State’s SportsUnited program.