Danielle Slaton and Tony Sanneh have travelled as Sports Envoys to Malaysia. Former General Manager of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT), Cheryl Bailey, joined on this trip as the first Sports Administrator to focus on girls’ sports program administration.

Read the full article on the U.S Department of State website

See Photos of the U.S. Sports Envoys in Penang

The mission of the night was “to create a fun, feel-good event that offers charity-minded men and women the opportunity to meet and make a difference through raising money to find a cure for childhood cancer”.

Tony’s date package consisted of a double date with his promoter, Christian, and a friend of the bidders.  The date started with dinner at the Downtowner, box seats at the Minnesota Wild, and two VIP tickets to the Sanneh Foundation Gala4Goals meet and greet March 24th at the Minneapolis Depot.

Photo Copyright © 2011 Bill Snellman

Bill Snellman Photography – photos are available for viewing and download on Facebook

Photos in Minnesota Monthly on Facebook

Erica Loeks Photography – photos are available for viewing and purchase (proceeds benefiting CCRF)

Mariah Crandall Photography – photos are available for viewing and purchase (proceeds benefiting CCRF)

Approaching Day 5 of our #HaitianIniative Trip, and all I can say is that this trip has been an eye-opener. I can relate the circumstances out here in Port-Au-Prince to my homeland of the Philippines, from the Tap-taps, which we call Jeepneys, to the lack of hot water, where we would have to boil water in a tub, and use buckets to wash ourselves, and even to the poor road conditions, and intense traffic. Despite the lack of resources here to help the communities, there is a sense of genuine hope that is shared amongst the people here. Haitians remain to be strong and in good spirits with a sense of pride. Even the youngest children can sense if a promise is genuine or not. And that strength keeps them going, no matter what the circumstances. This is a life lesson to be learned…

- Brian de Leon aka DJ GETLIVE!

We got going and during the drive, I saw a lot of old places and was quite surprised by the amount of grass I saw. On my previous visit, every park was a tent city. Now, there were less and less tent cities around.  After covering most of Port Au Prince, we stopped at a little playground overlooking the water.  This is where the trash talking had started.  We had  DJ getlive, NYC’s finest, AJ the barber,  the best barber in NYC, Eric, a UWM teammate and Captain of this NYC crew, myself, and Will, our trusty Americorps member.   First up was basketball. We had a three-on-three game and included one of the locals, of course my team won. Sorry Will, but I guess I had the better of the new Yorkers.  After basketball, we moved to the soccer field.  Really, it was just cement with two rocks as goals.  Eric and I played in a 4 on 4 game barefoot and shirtless.  Well, he was shirtless.   They got an early lead, but we quickly came back because Eric eased up so he could put on a show.  The young Haitian boys were great. All smiles, tons of talent and high on life.  We hadn’t lasted even 20 minutes before I stepped on some glass and had to end the game.  While cleaning my wound and taping my foot, I noticed some security in the park.  We went and met the group, which were from the U.S. embassy.  You never know when you need them, and they are great people to know. We did our best to share our story and learn as much as we could.

With bragging rights and a cut, I drove the group up the mountain.  Apparently, no one knows how to drive stick anymore.  Half way up, the other car had to turn back because it was over heating.  Now, ten of us had to squeeze into one SUV. It was tight. Most of the Van was annoyed because Will and I were debating on what is the right approach to welfare and teenage sex education.  Not going to get into it here, but apparently our van was sick of hearing it.  Then we came to the top of the mountain.  Gorgeous view. I had to stop. We could see the whole city.  This beautiful city has an ocean in the front yard and a mountain in the back.   It was great for the guys to see the beauty.  Alice, who is Haitian, but has never been to Haiti, was very emotional.  It was great hearing how happy she was to be here; to see where she came from.  From where we stood we could see it all.  This is a great group, and we are going to have a great week. The next step was now the drive home and down the big, big hill.  I guess I forgot to mention I was going to buy Oreos for lunch, but they were 8 dollars. Better for my diet anyways, huh?

Tony

View photos here

It’s 3:33am and I’m awake before my preemptive alarm has gone off. I’m too excited for this trip to rest. I had been up until 2:30am making sure that my laundry for the trip got into the dryer.  After talking to Delores, Tony’s mother, I get up and start folding my laundry and packing for the trip. It’s a ritual of mine…packing for a trip right before I leave. I learned in college that I work well under pressure and last minute packing is one way I get to relive the old glory days. Unfortunately, I’ve never done this while recovering from the flu before and when loading things into Delores’ car, I realized I left my passport on my bed. Lucky for me, we hadn’t left yet or it would’ve been a rough morning.

Once at the airport, I ask myself a series of questions about how the trip was going to pan out. Would my recovery hinder my experience? Would I get along with the New York crew that was working with us? How will I survive in Haiti without knowing French? Would I still be able to bond with the Haitians? Whatever questions were formulating in my mind at the time were sidelined by the coverage of Whitney Houston’s death. I found out moments before it was released by CNN yesterday. I forced myself to forget about it, but since CNN is the default at airports, I had to accept the fact that it was real. Whitney Houston, also known as “The Voice,” was no longer with us. Her influence and craft is unmatched, and as a singer, the loss had the same effect on me as the passing of Michael Jackson had on entertainers. I spent the layover times in Minneapolis and Chicago singing her songs as my tribute to her memory.

After arriving in Miami, I had to refocus on the mission at hand. In less than an hour, I was about to land in the first Black nation. As a young African Americanist, there is a sense of pride regarding the colonial victories of Haiti. Haitians gave American slaves hope for freedom and ignited the passion to do just that. Before boarding the plane to Haiti, I made three phone calls. The first was to one of my friends from Macalester who’s Haitian-American.  We talked about where I would be and if we could arrange for me to visit his family. The second call was to my best friend Kyera. We talked about how excited, yet jealous she was of me while flexing her maternal muscle by advising me what was safe to eat or drink. The last call I made was to my sister-in-law. I let her know where I was going, why and how long I was going to be there. After repeating the information, she told me I had mail and that she would send it to me. She inquired if I’d be home for the summer and I explained to her my plans for the summer. The call dropped and I sent her a text to say that I loved her and to send my love to the rest of the family. I have to be very cautious about how I give information to my family about my travels. I’m the only person in my family that has traveled abroad and they have been fearful of my travels since my injury during a deployment to Iraq in 2009. It seems best to alert them of my movement(s) abroad when I’m leaving, instead of weeks ahead of time, to avoid the anxiety of it all.

Getting through the airport was a madhouse. There were people everywhere trying to help carry my bags to the parking lot. Luckily, I ran into Tony while he was getting a second Haitian cell phone and we rode to our housing set up together. The ride there was very mind blowing. It felt as though I was driving through favelas in Brasil as they are portrayed in the movie, City of God. I was that I could have spent the rest of the day driving around the city. We arrive just before dinner with enough time to be introduced to rest of the Haitian Initiative crew and drop my bags on the bed. I spend dinner and about an hour after to fellowship with the crew and figure out what everyone’s role is going to be. The last few hours that I’m awake in Haiti, I lay in bed thinking about all I’ll do and see here over the next week with Whitney Houston’s Greatest Hits album playing on my iPod.

Until tomorrow,

Will

For more photos click here

Although it was 8 am on a Sunday morning, what I notice on the drive was that Port au Prince was not as busy as usual.  I also noticed that a lot had been cleaned up since my last visit.  There were many parks and parking lots that were turned into tent cities; they are parks again. The amount of trash on the ground was noticeably less than before and grass was starting to grow in its place.  Hmmm…I am feeling good about this. Change. Change for the better.  Not perfect, but progress.

Once I get to our guest house, I get a call. The New York part of the party missed their flight. This would be a long day.  I also learned that Will, our trusty Americorps member, was on a plane, and although he was battling the flu, he pulled through for the trip.  I also found out he almost forgot his passport! Sounds like someone else might have been using the 15 minute rule.  I am relying on Will to keep us organized, and to help us tell you the story of what’s going on here in Haiti.

-Tony

Congrats Hammer