Photos by Carina Wint
Text by Mike Power

In a dusty field on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the sun scorches the earth as a throng of boys tumbles from the back of a battered, open-back wagon. They move as one to the changing room, which rings with the shouts of excited children. It's a typical Thursday at L'Athletique d'Haiti, a football and athletics academy run by Bobby Duval, ex-political prisoner and human rights activist.

The training ground is located next to Haiti's notorious slum district, Cite Soleil. Roads are poor, water supplies

rudimentary and often polluted, and sanitation is basic. Many of the students live in Cite Soleil.

The academy provides training, medicine and food for 650 pupils from some of the poorest sections of the community. The average annual wage in Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, is $371. Although education is compulsory, it's a luxury enjoyed by only 40% of school-age children. Students at L'Athletique d'Haiti must attend regular classes, and Duval subsidises this.