"Haitians & Friends": Promoting Haiti

 June 2012

Jean Paul BENOIT is a young motivated Finance major with an actuarial Science minor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC). Born and raised in Haiti, he left Port-au-Prince a couple of years ago to attend college but never forgot his home country. At the beginning of this year (2012), Benoit and a group of other Haitian students gathered and created Haitians and Friends. Their objective is to promote a new Haiti and its amazing culture.

 In an exclusive interview Benoit, President of Haitians and Friends talks about his association and their agenda.

Jean-Paul BENOIT

1-Starting a Movement similar to “Haitians & Friends” to promote Haiti at your University is a hard work. Tell us a bit about your Association’s goals and its vision?

Starting a movement like Haitians and Friends in an environment where people barely know about Haiti is a hard work. Eight Haitian students created our association at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in March 2012. Our mission is to promote Haiti and its culture while positively impacting the population on campus by fostering intercultural understanding and campus wide integration; and ultimately serve the community with anyone who chooses to do the same.

2-      Promoting Haiti is a big decision. What is the focus of your Promotion?

Charlotte’s population is a very diverse in its own way, people’s expectations here differ a lot from elsewhere. Most people have literally no idea that we even exist. Thus, to promote our country, we must focus on what makes us unique; our rich heritage, our historical past and our colorful culture: the music, the carnival, the language, the art all of that. But since you ask about our focus, I have to mention that its mostly to show the possibility for a prosperous future. Make it known that we can go through rough times and land back up on our feet, our public here can certainly relate to that.

3-      Tell me more about your crew’s motivation.

  Our actual committee is a hundred percent Haitian.   We all share the same determination and motivation. We all work hard to get people to know our group and to promote Haiti among them. We have a group meeting and committee meeting every week. The committee is always trying to improve actual strategies  and expand our presence around campus. Showing that we are capable of more is what motivates us.

4-      Do you think that a touristic future is open for Haiti?

            I personally think that we have the resources needed to attract tourists: our population is very welcoming, we have an interesting history, the country itself offers a lot to see, our beaches are delightful, our culture is very inspiring. Furthermore; with a great work being done by Minister of Tourism in Haiti and many associations abroad like Haitians & Friends I will say that I do believe in a touristic future for Haiti but it will take some time because of our lack of infrastructure.

5-      Do you get support from any business or touristic association?

As of right now we are still promoting the country with our financial means. But we are open to anyone or any company that would like to help us change Haiti’s image in Charlotte. I will use this opportunity to invite you to visit our website at: www.haitiansandfriends.webs.com.

6-      What would you advice young Haitian student?

I am sure we have all heard that before but my advice would be to stay in school. Trust me, it is a long and sometimes difficult path, but I am almost done and I can already tell that it is worth it. 

Le Staff

Jean-Paul GUILLOBEL, Hotel| Restaurant |Tourism|Marketing| PR Consultant

jeanpaulguillobel@yahoo.com