When Kona Shen first visited Haiti in 2007, the Brown University graduate couldn’t help but notice how popular soccer was as a sport. She even honed her Creole skills while playing the sport with a local soccer team in the city of Léogane, where her volunteer group was operating.

When an earthquake hit Haiti, Shen was part of a Committee that her alma mater organized to respond to the disaster. She traveled with Orphans Worldwide in early Spring of 2010 to help launch social and educational programs post-earthquake. Shen observed that even while dealing with the trauma of such a devastating disaster, neighborhood kids and adults were playing soccer in the streets. It was a sight to see how much an effect the game had on people young and old, and the connection it brought for earthquake victims who were coming head-to-head with the aftermath such a catastrophic events. The award-winning volunteer (A President’s Volunteer Service Award is among the honors Shen has received for her volunteerism) knew then that she had found her calling.

By May 2 of 2010, Shen founded Global Outreach and Love of Soccer—-G.O.A.L.S for short. Since then, the organization has launched off a series of community service projects and activities—including a tree planting initiative, a daily summer camp and soccer tournaments—to help engage the youth and adults of the community in Léogane and get them involved in environmental causes and improve their lives, through their mutual love of soccer. G.O.A.L.S serves nearly 500 kids in its city of origin. Shen, who speaks Creole, French, Spanish and Chinese was happy to discuss G.O.A.L.S.

Any particular reason why you founded the organization in the city of Léogane?
Léogane is the first place I visited in Haiti and I continue to love living and working here. I think that it is somewhat unique in Haiti because it has a relatively high population but it still feels rural and accessible. People are friendly and it’s safe. A lot of times, it feels like everyone knows everyone, and that makes for a great environment to work and live.

What do you love most about Haiti?
There is a lot that I love about Haiti, from the dancing and music to the food and history. In terms of GOALS, I love that people come together for soccer. Families and neighbors come out to watch games, kids share their tattered soccer balls, and everyone follows every play like it’s the World Cup. I think that kind of passion they have for the game, and the time and energy that kids and their coaches devote to improving, is truly inspiring.

How important is soccer to the lives of young kids in Haiti, from what you’ve seen?
Everywhere I’ve been in Haiti, kids will do just about anything to play soccer. They have so much fun with it, and their talent is clear to see. I love that no matter how many obstacles are in a kid’s life, that if they put in the hard work to get better at the sport, they improve. For a lot of kids, playing soccer is an equalizing experience.

What’s the biggest satisfaction you’ve garnered since the inception of the organization?
GOALS originally started as a small project, and we have been fortunate to have a chance to expand. I’m most satisfied seeing that there are now hundreds of kids who have access to these programs, and I am committed to making sure hundreds more will have a chance to join GOALS in the future.

Did you have any obstacles along the way?
We have had some obstacles here and there, but nothing major. The fact that we work very, very closely with local communities to pursue projects that they determine are important means that our priorities are the same as those of the people we are trying to help. I think approaching the work from this perspective helps avoid a lot of potential problems.

What are your goals, no pun intended, for GOALS in the next few years?
I am working to ensure that we are able to grow the programs in the next few years, and hopefully give many more kids access to the sport, community service, and education activities in Haiti. This will take an increase in support of our programs, as well as raising awareness about what we’re doing.

For those out there who might want to help with the GOALS mission—what can they do?
Please consider making a donation to sponsor a summer camper this year. It only costs $25 and will give a child in a rural area a unique chance to benefit from our different kinds of programs. Helping spread word about GOALS is also much appreciated. For information about our programs, how to donate, or links to our page on Facebook, please visit G.O.A.L.S Haiti.

Chicago news anchor Lionel Moise is an overachiever. But there’s nothing wrong with adding more with making one’s accomplishment cup runneth over. Here are some goals that the Miamian should consider adding to his bucket list.

1. Make an appearance as himself in a movie.
Hey, anchors and other TV personalities do it all the time. Chicago is a huge market for filmmaking, and there is a hard-working Film Commission board ready to put the spotlight on the city. Lionel Moise already has camera experience, and knows a thing or two about camera blocking. And if he doesn’t want to play himself, he could always play President Barack Obama in a biopic—Young Barack Obama: A Portrait of the President or play Aubrey Graham in a biopic about Drake’s life.
End goal: He can become eligible to join SAG!

2. Form a strategic partnership with a major player…say…Netflix
Lionel Moise is the co-founder of Sock Concierge, a startup that delivers socks to its legion of male subscribers.

Netflix emerged with its socks program less than a year ago. The socks are built with a device that can turn off the TV if a user falls asleep while watching a program. Lionel could work with the video-on-demand giant on new designs, or he and his business team can create special edition socks for fans of certain shows.

End goal: Increase revenue for Sock Concierge, and increase the startup’s visibility, and attract venture capital.

3. Start a summer camp for inner-city youths
Lionel Moise was born in Miami, Florida—the state that is home to Carol City, Overtown, Liberty City and thousands of inner-city youths. Lionel could establish a nonprofit to launch this summer camp. He could even do it in collaboration with his Alma Mater the University of Miami, who has a great Cinema Department and a solid School of Communication. Participants could be underprivileged kids (youths in the juvenile system, and at-risk programs) and overachievers (kids excelling in school, Mensa junior members, etc).
End Goal: Giving back to the community that made him and personal satisfaction that comes from helping others.

Photo Credit: Robert Feder

4. Create an anchor-training school
Sure, he probably gets six figures as an anchor for a top news market, but after the IRS takes its cut…And Chicago is an expensive city to live in. In any case…this could be a nice diversion.

Lionel has been a professor, and holds a Master’s Degree. What better joy than to teach others what you know best and make some money while at it!

Lionel could offer news producing courses, and news packages tutorials. His students could be first-year anchors on the job and aspiring newscasters and hosts. He could offer this a few times a year, so as to not cause too many conflicts with the news station.

End goal: Train up-and-coming anchors, while creating another stream of income.

5. Produce a documentary
About what? Something Chicago-related, perhaps? But definitely something that commands more than a news bite. The history of black newspapers and black magazines as subject comes to mind! Or a bio-doc about Richard Abbott, the founder of The Chicago Defender-–which will cover the Chicago angle and the news angle.

End goal: an accomplishment outside of anchoring and entrepreneurship.

There you have it folks, 5 GOALS LIONEL MOISE SHOULD HAVE ON HIS BUCKET LIST from your fave chick Kreyolicious.

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Garcelle Beauvais! Actress. Mother. Philanthropist. She’s loaded with accomplishments, but there’s still a great many things she could add to her bucket list of things to do. Join your favorite chick Kreyolicious as I go over them.

1. Start a touring company
She could call it Garcelle’s Girls, Beauvais Tours, or Garcelle Travels. She can even tie it up with her TV movie franchise The Girlfriend Getaway. Whether she does this or not, Garcelle could market it as a mid-life adventure travel company with the city of Saint Marc as the destination (with other stops in different parts of Haiti). We don’t hear much about that city, and I have seen some photos of its beautiful beaches. Her target would be women in their 40s and 50s who spent their twenties and thirties without doing much traveling, or who want to resume traveling again. She could target married women, or the newly-divorced or widowed.

Garcelle has a large family, including sisters that she’s extremely close to. They could run the company as a family business.

2. Direct something
Maybe she could start out with a short film. If Garcelle hasn’t found a property to direct, she can always serve as co-producer for a colleague’s project.

Photo Credit: Albert E. Rodriguez
3. Star in a biopic
Why oh why didn’t Garcelle buy the rights to Roxane Gay’s book Untamed State? She could have played the protagonist. But all is not lost. Garcelle could find another literary property. Garcelle could get intense method acting on Hollywood and get herself that Oscar and a Golden globe.

Edwidge Danticat has so many books with some of the film rights still available. Perhaps that’s something Garcelle should explore.

Let’s see. I read about this revolutionary named Henriette of Saint Marc, and Garcelle’s peoples are from that part of Haiti. The details concerning this historical figure are very minimal so Garcelle could have a bit of poetic license. Moreover, she wouldn’t have to buy any rights to a literary property.

Or she could play Queen Marie-Louise, the wife of King Henry Christophe.

Or she could just do a mainstream biopic project. The life of Coretta Scott King following the death of Martin Luther King Jr., perhaps? Maybe Julie Dash, Ava Duvernay, Sanaa Hamri or Melina Matsoukas could direct her.

Above: Garcelle and her twins Jaid and Jax. Photo Credit: RB/BG

4. Write her autobiography.
And it doesn’t have to be a sordid tell-all either. It could be something along the lines of How to Raise Multicultural Children, How to Look Fabulous and Feel Good About Yourself After 40. They could be prescriptive type of self-help with non-intrusive snippets from Garcelle’s life. I think there’s a great many books on the market on the latter subject. But is there one tailored for women of color? Probably not.

5. Start a clothing and cosmetics line.
At one point, Garcelle had an accessories line, Le Petit Bijoux. She could start a clothing line or a home furnishings line.

Jaid and Jax are growing. They’ll be pre-teens one day. I don’t believe there’s anything on the market for pre-teen boys of color. But it’s a clear niche. Maybe the boys could get together with Garcelle and design skateboards, phone and tablet accessories, and a boys shampoo and body gel. Or hair products for young boys of color. Or home furnishings for pre-teen boys!

There you have it folks, 5 GOALS GARCELLE BEAUVAIS SHOULD HAVE ON HER BUCKET LIST from your fave chick Kreyolicious.

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