For many Caribbean nations, the Southeast U.S. is home to large diaspora populations who carry the cultural banner of their home islands and stay connected even after settling down here.  

But the hardships of the last few years — and especially the shared experience of the COVID-19 pandemic —  have made it all the more essential to send help home.  

Diplomats have since been working to better structure the ways they tap into diaspora communities as resources for recovery, four female consuls told Global Atlanta March 31 during a special Women’s History Month edition of the Consular Conversations interview series sponsored by Miller & Martin PLLC 

Roudelyne Nogar Jean is consul general of Haiti in Atlanta

The Haitian population in Georgia has ballooned since the earthquake of 2010 devastated the country. More than a decade later, the consulate that set up to serve Haitians resettled here counts 80,000 people of Haitian heritage in the state alone, including Haitian-Americans. That number could be revealed as even higher once the results of the 2020 Census are revealed.  

Roudelyne Nogar Jean, who in 2020 was elevated to the position of Haitian consul general in Atlanta, said her job in recent months has been focused mostly on care for the diaspora.  

“It’s a pretty big community, so the job was not so easy with the pandemic, but we are doing our best to stay connected,” she said.  

Tourism has been nearly non-existent in Haiti, given global travel restrictions, trimmed flight schedules and the political turmoil that has engulfed the country early this year, but Ms. Jean is holding out hope that 2021 will bring economic recovery. (Soon after the event, she hosted a visit by Haiti’s new ambassador to the United States, who updated the community on a recent referendum on a new Haitian constitution.)  

In the Bahamas, tourism was slammed temporarily as the prime minister made the “bold move” to close borders to prevent health infrastructure from being overrun, said Astra Armbrister-Rolle, the country’s Atlanta-based consul general for the Southeast. But it paid off in the long run.  

“Today, we can see the very stark economic impact that’s had on us with having the tourism industry shut down completely. But conversely, we’ve seen our numbers of the infection rates go down, we’ve been able to open our borders,” Ms. Armbrister-Rolle said....  

FOR MORE CONTINUE TO  Global Atlanta 

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