Joe Duplan: Joe was born and raised in Jacmel, the most beautiful town in Haiti. Jacmel is well known as the safest place in Haiti. It has the international reputation of being the hot spot for Haitian art, particularly the papier-mache masks that artisans produce for the national Carnival celebration each year.

Joe completed elementary school at Freres Clement in Jacmel and then attended high school in Port-au-Prince at Saint Louis Gonzague. Before leaving Haiti he was the supervising manager of a clothing company in Petionville.

Joe moved to the U.S. in 1982, attended Borough of Manhattan Community College and Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. He then began to pursue one of his passions – cooking. He worked at various restaurants in New York, California, Hawaii, Maryland and Sweden as both sous chef and chef. His experiences range from macrobiotic, French, Italian, West Indian, Nouveau cuisine and of course traditional Haitian food. His exposure to different styles of cooking enables him to manipulate traditional Haitian recipes, creating exciting vegetarian and low-fat dishes. Food in Haiti is grown without chemicals, so Joe has a special love for organic ingredients. He believes what you put in your body reflects on the being, and therefore he considers good healthy food to be the daily medicine for the body and soul well being.

Joe has been all over the world, especially throughout Central and South America, but believes nothing compares with Haiti. He has already started work on his life long dream – to open a bed and breakfast for adventurous tourists and social justice delegations just outside his hometown of Jacmel. Joe is just beginning to build the bed and breakfast in the small village of Cyvadier, on a piece of land with ocean in the front yard and the of the Quixote Center through his relationship with co-director Melinda Miles. Joe and Melinda have coordinated several delegations to Haiti, and he has visited the reforestation program in Gros Morne twice. During his work with the Quixote Center, Joe has had the opportunity to become an activist for his home country. From radio interviews, to lobbying visits and demonstrations, Joe now uses the access afforded by backdrop of mountains.

Over the last few years Joe has become actively involved with the Haiti Reborn program and uses his U.S. citizenship to further Haitian issues.