Young Athletes With Hope

05/09/2025

Popcorn for the Championship!

In breaking news, the YAWH team has made the finals for the National Soccer Championship to be held Sept 13-14 in Cap Haitian! Starting today (September 4th) through Sunday September 7th, we’re partnering with DoubleGood to kick off a POPCORN fundraiser to cover food and transportation costs (~$2500). By purchasing delicious popcorn, you’ll not only enjoy a tasty treat but also support athletes!

50% of all sales go directly to YAWH.

Click the link below to grab your popcorn and be a part of something meaningful!

https://popup.doublegood.com/s/7r0c4yx3

28/09/2024

YAWH is playing in Haiti’s national soccer tournament! Please help us raise $4,000 to cover fees, travel, and meals for the players during this event.

Support Our Cause: Buy Popcorn and Help Us Raise Funds for a Purpose!

https://popup.doublegood.com/s/7r0c4yx3

29/08/2024

15/08/2024

With everything happening in Haiti, YAWH athletes do not take practicing regularly and playing in tournaments for granted. Players often must navigate tenuous circumstances to get to the field, as the political and social situation can change daily.

23/07/2024

THE HISTORY THAT LED TO TODAY’S CRISIS – AND THE PROMISE OF CHANGE

While Haiti has faced deep underlying problems since its people revolted against France and claimed their independence from France in 1804, it was 1981 that marked its rapid decline.

Natural Disasters
Haiti is in a region prone to severe storms and earthquakes. Still, over the past 15 years, the country has endured more than its fair share of natural disasters, most notably the 7.0 earthquake in 2010 that killed an estimated 300,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more.

Poor urban planning, substandard housing infrastructure, aid mismanagement, and ongoing corruption magnify the impact of such disasters and greatly hinder any recovery for the nation.

YAWH believes the way to effect change is on a personal level, athlete by athlete, and community by community. Click on the link in our bio to join our mailing list and hear about the exciting projects underway that we expect will result in real change for the Haitian people. 🙏🏽🇭🇹

16/07/2024

THE HISTORY THAT LED TO TODAY’S CRISIS – AND THE PROMISE OF CHANGE

While Haiti has faced deep underlying problems since its people revolted against France and claimed their independence from France in 1804, it was 1981 that marked its rapid decline.

Gang Uprising and Political Upheaval
Haiti’s elites are often accused of drastically limiting the food supply through a series of bad decisions, thereby robbing ordinary people of economic opportunity. Gang leaders pronounce they are liberating the country from them; however, their tactics remain questionable, given the recent gang-linked killings and kidnappings. Interestingly, these same gangs have had a long relationship with the nation’s leaders, who have used armed groups to exert pressure on their political rivals.
Haiti’s dependence on imported foods is often blamed on the upper class, with the lack of elections and political interference from other nations as a driving force behind gang violence. Sadly, such political instability has been a major cause of Haiti’s stunted development over the past 40+ years.
————————————————
YAWH believes the way to effect change is on a personal level, athlete by athlete, and community by community. Click on the link in our bio to join our mailing list and hear about the exciting projects underway that we expect will result in real change for the Haitian people. 🙏🏽🇭🇹

10/07/2024

THE HISTORY THAT LED TO TODAY’S CRISIS – AND THE PROMISE OF CHANGE

While Haiti has faced deep underlying problems since its people revolted against France and claimed their independence from France in 1804, it was 1981 that marked its rapid decline.

Economic Failures
The 1979 Oil Crisis raised the price of crude oil drastically, more than doubling the price per barrel. The influx of cash deposited from the spike encouraged banks to extend loans to all without much discretion. Haiti’s dictator at the time, Jean-Claude Duvalier, took advantage of the easy money and amassed excessive loans while not effectively investing in the development of Haiti’s economy. When inflation in the U.S. was curtailed a few years later, repayment of the loans had to be made in the now-inflated dollar.

Duvalier continued to make disastrous decisions for Haiti’s economy, culminating in the slaughter of Hait’s chief source of protein, pigs, due to international pressure to curtail a new swine flu. Attempts to replace Haiti’s pigs with a heartier type failed. In the absence of a traditional protein source, desperate Haitians cut down trees to clear more farmland and sell charcoal, accelerating Haiti’s deforestation.

A decade later in 1995, President Bill Clinton ordered Haiti to drop its tariff on U.S. rice (which was coincidently subsidized and primarily grown in Arkansas) from 50 percent to just 3 percent. As a result, Haiti’s rice production collapsed.

YAWH believes the way to effect change is on a personal level, athlete by athlete, and community by community. Click on the link in our bio to join our mailing list and hear about the exciting projects underway that we expect will result in real change for the Haitian people. 🙏🏽🇭🇹

03/07/2024

Stagne was among the first to join Young Athletes with Hope in 2016 and is the first to leave Haiti to develop new skills through a new resident leadership program.

Soft-spoken and very polite, he leads with a servant’s heart and has earned the respect of his teammates and the title “President” – the name everyone calls him in recognition of his role as a co-leader of the soccer program.

Stagne is one of four young men selected to participate in this new program that allows select YAWH athletes to come to the U.S. through a work visa to receive the training and experience that will help them become change agents in their native communities.

During his two years in the U.S., Stagne will work alongside his host in construction and experience winter in the Midwest for the first time.

YAWH is very excited to see this vision of hope fulfilled for one of its athletes! Praise God! 🙏🏽🇭🇹

05/06/2024

World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5 to encourage awareness and action for protecting the environment. Most have heard about the deforestation in Haiti; however, a resurgence in the country’s coffee production may help to reverse that decline.
In 1949, Haiti produced a third of the world’s coffee supply. Since then, ongoing political and environmental misfortunes have caused coffee production to plummet. Today, coffee growers are making a comeback due to free trade and a growing market in premium coffee brands.
Haiti is the most mountainous country in the Caribbean, making the high altitude, fertile soil, and shade ideal for producing Arabica beans, known for their low acidity and sweet taste.
Shade-grown coffee encourages growers to keep their trees and plant new ones, which helps protect Haiti’s environment and expands coffee production.
Haitian farmers also use traditional methods void of chemicals to grow and dry coffee beans, further promoting a healthier environment.
Be sure to look for Haitian coffee the next time you shop or dine out! ☕️

27/05/2024

Remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.

18/05/2024

Bòn Fèt Drapo Ayisyen! -Happy Haitian Flag Day!

🇭🇹 Every May 18th Haitians around the world and throughout the US celebrate Haitian Flag Day. This year marks the 221st Anniversary of the Haitian Flag. The Flag is celebrated to commemorate the establishment of the Haitian flag during the Haitian revolution. In 1803 military leaders representing divided segments of the society united their forces against the French colonial army. Jean Jacques Dessalines, a former enslaved revolutionist, and Alexandre Petion, a free colored man, paved the way for a victorious revolution that would lead to the first successful slave revolt in the world and eventually the birth of a Nation.

🇭🇹 It is said that the revolutionary leader Jaques Dessalines tore out the central white stripe of the French tricolor flag, symbolizing the unity of the nations people and rejection of its French colonizers. Dessalines god daughter, Catherin Flon was a Haitian semstrees and patriot. She took the remainder red and blue cloths and sewd them together to form the first blue and red flag of the republic of Haiti.

🇭🇹Haiti has faced significant turmoil, grapping with political instablitiy, economic changes and has suffered countless natural disasters. Despite these hardships, this May the Haitian flag serves as a powerful symbol of resilience and hope. The blue and red colors represent the unity of the nations people, and the white stripe symbolizes the freedom.

🇭🇹In the face of adversity, the Haitian flag stands as our reminder of the country’s enduring strength and determination to overcome obstacles and to rebuilt. The flag has been a true reminder that there is hope in the midst of darkness. Today is a time when Haitians worldwide come together in solidarity and celebrate heritage with pride - like the slogan on the bottom of the flag banner says “LUNION FAIT LA FORCE’ with unity, there is strength!!

04/05/2024

We play together we pray together
# # # #