When Tony Sanneh started the Haitian Initiative five years ago, the former elite soccer player from St. Paul created an avenue of reciprocal inspiration.

First, though, Sanneh saw devastation. With Major League Soccer’s L.A. Galaxy, the final stop on his 15-year international pro career, Sanneh toured Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince. He saw how the catastrophic 7.0-magnitude earthquake leveled the impoverished country in 2010, killing more than 160,000 people and displacing 1.5 million residents.

On the humanitarian relief mission, Sanneh asked if there was a soccer field in the particularly hard-luck and ravaged neighborhood of Cite Soleil. Makenzy Francois took Sanneh to a bolted-off gravel yard.

“I asked why they weren’t using it,” Sanneh said. “They said there are no bathrooms in Cite Soleil, so if we don’t lock it up, people will come in here to go to the toilet.”

So, Sanneh, a career defender who played on the U.S. men’s national team, saw an opportunity to counterattack. In 2011, he set up the Haitian Initiative to provide a youth soccer and nutrition program, which has grown to 400 participants from ages 6 to 16.

And since 2012, H.I. has sent about 60 youth players to participate in the USA Cup international soccer tournament at the National Sports Center to Blaine. This year, an under-12 girls team left Cite Soleil for a few weeks in Minnesota. Related Articles Houston Dynamo scores twice in 2nd half to tie Minnesota United

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“It’s considered one of the most dangerous places to live in the Western Hemisphere, so they are more likely to come with us to Minnesota than they are to go to other areas of Port-au-Prince and maybe different parts of Cite Soleil because of gang violence,” said Tod Herskovitz, who runs international partner relations for the Haitian Initiative.

But with only a dozen Haitian players, they requested Minnesotan players to join them as guests. The fellowship continued Friday when they met Minnesota United FC players after their training session. They got to hang out again with United goalkeeper Steward Ceus, a New York native of Haitian heritage.

Ceus is known in his ancestral homeland because he’s been a member of the Haitian men’s national team since 2010. Earlier this summer, Ceus was on the Haitian roster in the Copa America tournament, the U.S.-hosted event featuring nations from across the Western Hemisphere. He called it one of the greatest moments of his playing career.

“Obviously the kids look up to us as athletes that are shown on a world stage, and they see something that they can potentially do,” Ceus said. “Just a little bit of hope can go a long way.”

Ceus, 29, has had lengthy, multistop career before making his Loons debut Wednesday in the international friendly match against the English Premier League club Bournemouth. He had four saves and one goal allowed in the Loons’ 3-1 win over Fort Lauderdale on Saturday.

Out of the University of Albany (N.Y.), he was drafted by MLS’ Colorado Rapids in 2009 and was loaned to a club in the third-tier of the U.S. soccer structure, the USL’s Charlotte Eagles. He returned to play for the Rapids in 2012 and then went to Narpes Kraft, a club in Finland’s third division. Last season, he played for the now defunct Atlanta Silverbacks, which shared the second-division North American Soccer League with United.

As Ceus tried to keep his head up over whether he’d receive another chance to play in Minnesota, he said he kept his countrymen, women and kids in mind.

“If I quit, the kids see that and ask, ‘Where did he go? He’s a healthy guy,” Ceus said. “Just keep working and let them understand that there is work beyond the Haiti team. It’s good for them to see that.”

That’s the two-way avenue of inspiration exchanged between Ceus and the Haitian kids.

“It’s mutual — whether it’s the people or the kids or the fans,” Ceus said. “They see us working and they want to be behind us and vice versa.”

United sporting director Manny Lagos, also a St. Paul native, addressed the Haitian players and coaches during the Loons practice Friday. He shared how his children, MJ and Jackson, were able to get to know some Haitians during a camp they all participated a few years ago in Minnesota.

“I told them that there are (American) kids here that are so excited that they get to socialize with them,” Lagos said.

The Haitians are able to come to the U.S. on behalf of funding from the State Department’s International Sports Programming Initiative. The goal is a cross-cultural understanding among nations through games.

“Everyone talks about what a great experience it is for them (the Haitians), but one of the biggest difference is the families here,” said Sanneh, who runs the broader Sanneh Foundation. “I have families here saying it changed their lives. … It helps people be more philanthropic, it helps people see the world.”

On this trip from the Caribbean, the Haitian Initiative brought 15 coaches to help them earn coaching certification with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Francois said they are trying to meet increased interest in the program, which he estimated at 1,500 children.

“That’s one of the reasons that many of the coaches are here — to teach them about social impact, so soccer is not only about scoring, it’s about changing lives,” Francois said.

Francois, who has been with H.I. since its inception, said when the program got off the ground, children had a lack of respect for their parents. “They said that ‘the family quits. We are on our own growing up,’ ” Francois relayed.

During the six-day-a-week program, the children are now fed a meal provided by Feed My Starving Children, another Minnesota organization. For some kids, it’s their only meal of the day. As H.I. requires participants to go to school while respecting the program’s coaches, Francois has had children bring their parents to meet him.

That shows that inspiration and impacts of the Haitian Initiative are actually more cyclical than linear.