Text by BWF Shuttle Time
𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐉𝐄𝐀𝐍
𝑆ℎ𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑁𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑜𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖
My parents were farmers. They had to work very hard to take care of us. We had a very happy childhood. But following the death of my father when I was 8 years old, everything became difficult for our family. We had to leave our native province and settle in the capital, leaving behind us our modest life and all our past.
Everything was becoming difficult for our family. We had many painful moments. We experienced hunger and humiliation. But my courageous mother understood that education was the surest way to help us have a normal life, and she worked very hard to pay for our schooling. Now, thanks to her courage and foresight, I have a very promising social life. I have a master’s degree in social psychology, and I’m a sports promoter and member of the Haitian Badminton Federation, besides being father of two children.
𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁
I saw badminton for the first time at the Olympics 1998 and I was very impressed. Since that day, I became a badminton lover. Thanks to the internet, I started following all the latest developments in the game. In December 2014, I had the chance to work with the Haitian Badminton Federation as an adviser, and in 2018 I became national coordinator of the Shuttle Time Haiti programme.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗕𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 
Badminton means a lot to me. In a country like Haiti, where young people from disadvantaged communities are often involved in delinquency, badminton can help show them a better path. Badminton is a passion for me, a passion that I will continue to share with the children of Haiti.
Compared to other sports, badminton is easier to apply at clinics for beginners. It’s a sport that involves endurance, skill and intelligence.
𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗵𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲
As coordinator of the Haiti Shuttle Time programme, I participate in the development of badminton in my community. Thanks to this programme, badminton is present in almost all schools. More and more young people in my region are playing badminton, and this has considerably reduced juvenile delinquency.
