Why I like Haiti

(Lees dit artikel in het Nederlands.)

And why did I create a crowdfunding on GoFundMe?

First let me introduce myself: I am Anne Marie de Haan, 51 years old from the Netherlands. One of the many things I do is write a thriller in which a good friend of one of the main characters is from Haiti. During the writing process I started to find this fictional Haitian more and more interesting, so I got a lot of inspiration for a second book, in which he will play the lead. In order to be able to portray this character believably, I have spent the past few months delving into the fascinating history, culture and spirituality of Haiti. At the moment it is only possible online or through books.

Why this crowdfunding?

During my search for the culture of Haiti, I came across a Facebook group about Haitian art, which was connected to a foundation. They asked me for a donation, which I gave. But to my great disappointment, this donation turned out to be mainly for exhibitions about already deceased artists. I just want to support living artists, because they can use the extra money and because Haiti is a country with many poor people.

In this facebook group I met the young artist and teacher Lesly Pierre Paul, who told me that he wanted to start a crowdfunding for a study trip with his students. I offered to help him with this as a volunteer, which is why the crowdfunding is on my name. I like to be as transparent as possible, so I plan to continue to post interviews with stakeholders in the coming weeks. So please check out the updates here.

Read more about Lesly Pierre Paul and his New Vision Art School.