Screening of "The Price of Sugar" and UVM student panel

Fundacion de Libertad is pleased to announce a screening of "The Price of Sugar" on Wednesday, November 28th, starting at 5:00 p.m. in Room 101 of the Fleming Building on the University of Vermont campus. The movie will be followed by a panel discussion on sugar cane plantations and HIV prevention in the Dominican Republic by a recently returned University of Vermont class from the DR. This new film follows a charismatic Spanish priest as he organizes some of the western hemisphere's poorest people, challenging powerful interests profiting from their work. When he arrives in the Dominican Republic, he's warned against entering the sugar plantations where most of his parishioners live. Breaking a centuries old taboo, he discovers shocking examples of modern-day slavery intrinsic to the global sugar trade.

Narrated by Paul Newman, this picture raises key questions about where the products we consume originate, at what cost they are produced and ultimately, where our responsibility lies. For a preview, push play below.



The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with a November University of Vermont (UVM) travel-study course that has just returned from working in the Dominican Republic on expanding an HIV/AIDS prevention education program (Futbol para la Vida) in the very communities discussed about in this film. UVM classes will be returning to the DR in January and March of 2008 to work on new initiatives in community gardening and literacy.

Co-Sponsored by:
UVM Department of Plant and Soil Science
UVM English Department
UVM travel-study classes to the Dominican Republic, and
Futbol para la Vida

Community of La Canela graduates first students from Futbol para la Vida

The community of La Canela, a suburb of Santiago, graduated their first group of students this month from their Futbol para la Vida HIV/AIDS prevention education program. The program was built from a collaboration with the community of Batey Libertad that has grown from recent years of both men's and women's soccer games. Libertad FPV trainer Yanlico recruited this first class at La Canela, ran them through 6 weeks of Friday classes, and organized a graduation and community celebration in which the visiting University of Vermont class was able to participate along with special guest Emmanuel "Manno" Sanon.

La Canela joins a growing network of communities radiating from Batey Libertad in the Cibao Valley and Saman in the Puerto Plata region that are addressing HIV/AIDS prevention among Dominican and Haitian youth through FPV programs based on the Grassroot Soccer curriculum. Below are some pictures from the graduation. Congratulations La Canela!

A happy graduate with her proud father (left) and

FPV ambassador Manno Sanon (right)

Graduates, UVM students, friends & family

Future FPV trainer (?) with Yanlico (left)
and Manno Sanon (right)

6th Tournament of the Batey Libertad Coalition

On Sunday, November 18th, a University of Vermont class together with the Batey Libertad Coalition (BLC) held the 6th BLC Soccer Tournament at Batey Libertad. Special guest Emmanuel "Manno" Sanon -- World Cup Footballer and Haitian Athlete of the Century -- was in attendance to give the Batey Libertad men's team a pep talk that carried them through the finals, where they held on to a 1-0 lead against "Plantaciones del Norte". Many of the UVM students hadn't found their "Haitian stomachs" just yet, illing from some home cooking the day before, but three Vermonters did take the field. Father-son duo Lucas and Gary Hawley joined forces in the final, and UVM medical student Ryan Sexton helped Batey Libertad reach the finals with a penalty kick during a qualifying round shoot-out.

The Batey Libertad Coalition is a partnership between Haitians, Dominicans, and Americans to use the sport of soccer as a catalyst for social change at Batey Libertad and the surrounding communities. The BLC was founded by a group of University of Vermont students and soccer players from Batey Libertad whose shared love of the "beautiful game" has helped to organize community resources, inspire the next generation of community leaders, and break down racial prejudices between Dominicans and Haitians. Batey Libertad has both men's and women's soccer teams, as well as programs for young boys and girls. Today they are a soccer powerhouse in the Esperanza-Mao-Santiago region, and have helped organize and outfit other teams in the surrounding area with equipment collected by US soccer clubs and school programs. BLC Vermont partners include Essex United Soccer Club, Capital Soccer Club, and Far Post Soccer Club, and during 2007 benefited from equipment drives at high schools and universities in New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Illinois.

For more information on the Batey Libertad Coalition, how to organize a soccer equipment drive, or raise money for Batey Libertad programs through annual juggle-a-thons, please get in touch with John Antonucci of Capital Soccer Club, UVM alumni and co-founder of the BLC.

World Cup Footballer, Manno Sanon, Visits Batey Libertad

Over the weekend of November 17 and 18, the community of Batey Libertad was treated to a visit from a Haitian national hero ... in fact ... the Haitian Athlete of the Century! Emmanuel "Manno" Sanon -- who lead Haiti to the 1974 World Cup -- shared his coaching and playing experiences with the soccer teams, attended a graduation of a "Futbol para la Vida" HIV/AIDS education program, and hosted a soccer tournament at Batey Libertad. Footballers and fans alike spent hours with Manno, discussing soccer, autographing t-shirts, or just reflecting on the future of Haiti and the powerful voice of the Haitian diaspora in the Dominican Republic.

Manno's name was forever preserved in soccer lore when he scored one of the most memorable goals in World Cup history against Italian keeper Dino Zoff. Scoring nearly half of the national team goals during his four years playing with Haiti, Manno went on to play professional soccer in Europe and the USA, has had an illustrious coaching career in the USA, and most recently coached the Haitian national team in the 1999-2000 season, including their first CONCACAF Gold Cup appearance. Manno today lives in Orlando, Florida with his wife Susi, and has been busy running the Foundation Emmanuel Sanon (FONDESA), a 501(c) non-profit and charitable organization that provides activities for youth of North American, the Caribbean, and Europe. Manno has recently become the ambassador for Futbol para la Vida, our HIV/AIDS prevention education program with youth of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Together with a University of Vermont class, Manno hosted the 6th Soccer Tournament of the Batey Libertad Coalition. The tournament included Batey Libertad and three teams from neighboring Haitian communities. Fighting through the rain (at times torrential) the Batey Libertad men's team won the tournament, with Manno presiding over the team trophy presentation. Vermont players included the father son duo of Lucas and Gary Hawley, and UVM medical student Ryan Sexton, who scored a critical goal during a qualifying round penalty kick shoot-out.

Read more about the illustrious career of Manno Sanon at:
http://www.haitifoot.com/manno_sanon/manno_sanon.php.

For more about the work of his foundation, see:
http://www.haitifoot.com/fondesa.php.

And relive Manno's infamous goal at the 1974 World Cup by clicking Play below: