Cite Soleil, Haiti is a rough area, to say the least. This is especially true for the youth of the city who grow up in a difficult economic and sociological environment. But this is exactly where Empower2Play will be hoping to use American Football to shine some light in an otherwise dark setting.
Empower2Play will be hosting a ten-day sports diplomacy event in Cite Soleil, Haiti, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the world. This event will be hosted with the US Embassy and will be focusing on using American Football to gets kids active and expand knowledge of the game in an area that could use a distraction from the daily situation.
There is also a unique tech twist with this event. With the location being a difficult place for people to attend, Empower2Play will be the first organization to use Live Stream Virtual Reality to broadcast the event worldwide. Founder of Empower2Play AK Ikwuakor, who is a former All-American sprinter from the University of Oregon dedicated some of his time to speak with us about the unique event and how virtual reality is being used to share this philanthropic endeavor.
AK explained that Empower2Play is a non-profit based in Boston Massachusetts that strives to find the next generation of leaders and expand relations of cultures through the power of sports. Empower2Play works to develop a global family one sport at a time by involving different cultural populations to share different parts of people’s culture with the focus of creating youth leadership that will positively impact future generations.
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The ten-day sports diplomacy event on September 10th will look to provide the opportunity to expand the sport of football beyond U.S. soil and will publicize the great potential of virtual reality. The event will be teaching kids the fundamentals of American football and give them the chance to play the game and get active in their community. 300 local youth members in Cite Soleil and 100 volunteers involved from all parts of the world will help make the event happen.
Livit Now is partnering with Empower2Play to broadcast the live stream of the event through virtual reality. Specifically, Empower2Play will be using a 360-degree camera to provide the feed for the event and Livit Now has the proper technology to make the live virtual reality stream possible.
The collaboration between Livit Now and Empower2Play is an opportunity to showcase a caring initiative in a part of the world that is not represented positively and is known for its troubled economic and societal status. And sharing Empower2Play’s initiative would of course not be possible without the use of virtual reality which in this case will allow the world to see a part of Haiti that is not often covered by the media. This is something that Ikwuakor is excited about. “Our mission is to show sides of the world most people are unable to see. With virtual reality, the world will finally get that chance.”
Ikwuakor also acknowledged that it is not an easy process to attend the event due to its location, which was the driving force behind getting VR technology involved with the viewing. “We’re now providing the opportunity for people to experience this event with live virtual reality technology,” said Ikwuakor. At the same time, this is what makes Empower2Play different from other non-profits with similar initiatives.
“What makes us stand out is that we are doing VR [virtual reality] in a place that’s inaccessible,” stated Ikwuakor.
Ikwuakor is a big supporter of the burgeoning virtual reality technology and its opportunity to change businesses around the globe. “Virtual reality is not only changing sports, it’s changing the way people do corporate sponsorships, partnerships, it’s changing everything. With VR [virtual reality], people from all over the world can now see your brand.” Virtual reality has the power to change the game in how businesses may operate for the future.
Empower2Play will go live with the event on September 10th and Ikwuakor is excited to see the potential combination of sports and virtual reality.