Diplomatic Spouses Doll from Haiti ‘Shy’ Wife Expresses Creativity, Whether in Social Work or Greeting Cards by Gail Scott Lola Poisson Joseph, born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and reared in Brooklyn, N.Y., is one sophisticated doll. Wife of Haitian Ambassador Raymond Joseph, this cheerful woman says she’s “shy,” though she expresses herself beautifully through painting, doll making and her own new line of greeting cards. “I am a playful person who likes to connect to other people, one at a time,” she told me as she warmly welcomed me into her home, with Cecile, her fluffy Pomeranian, by her side. “My husband is the diplomat. He talks to everyone. He doesn’t mind going to all these big events, but my heart starts pounding when I do. We are very different.” Outside of diplomacy, Raymond Joseph is best known as a journalist and activist. From 1964 to 1970, he became a radio personality, founding the first radio broadcast in New York beamed against the François Duvalier dictatorship back home. In 1970, Raymond joined the Wall Street Journal as a writer, covering mostly financial stories for 14 years. Meanwhile, he and his brother Leo Joseph founded the Haiti Observateur in New York, the first crusading commercial Haitian weekly, which today remains the premier newspaper abroad for the Haitian Diaspora. In 1990, as Haiti’s chargé d’affaires in Washington and the country’s representative at the Organization of American States (OAS), Raymond signed the first OAS accord to allow unarmed election observers into Haiti, which made the country’s first democratic elections possible. Lola, meanwhile, is the proud daughter of Louverture Poisson, a well-known Haitian painter whose pure and simple oils depicting his native homeland were among the first to be appreciated outside this Caribbean country. “I never painted with him,” Lola said as she showed me around the residence to see her father’s striking artwork, which hangs side by side with her own charming paintings. “He was a high-ranking military official and painting was more of a hobby for him than a way to make money,” Lola explained. “I was the middle child and extremely shy and quiet,” she recalled. “I never knew I had this talent. I was tall and skinny, like a broomstick”—a description that’s difficult to reconcile with Lola’s image today as a well-educated professional woman who is not only full of life, but outspoken and very pretty. “I am a simple person,” Lola said, “but I live my life to the fullest. And when I do get involved in something, I give my best.” For example, after graduating cum laude from Brooklyn College, she went on to New York University to receive a master’s degree in public administration. She then attended the Hunter College School of Social Work to earn another master’s degree. Lola has long had a passion for helping her fellow Haitians. In New York, she worked as a medical staff coordinator for St. John’s Episcopal Hospital and its Interfaith Medical Center, and then as project director for the Haitian Coalition on AIDS. She also founded and served as the executive director of the Haitian Community Health Center, for which she raised $10 million over the life of the agency. Now in Washington, Lola enjoys a quieter career as a stay-at-home diplomatic wife who enjoys a variety of pursuits, which include developing a new greeting card line, painting in her art studio, designing wood sculptures, and creating Haitian dolls for fundraising organizations and friends. In 2004, only eight months after she and her husband arrived in Washington, Lola took the lead on a project that showcased artwork created by members of the diplomatic community. The program, which was organized by THIS (The Hospitality and Information Service at the Meridian International Center), included work by 29 artists from 22 countries. More than 350 people attended the exhibit held at the Haitian Residence, which Lola transformed into an art gallery by removing all of the furniture and adding track lighting. Afterward, Lola treated the artists and their families—more than 100 people—to a 10-course meal that she had prepared. Lola has been a favorite at THIS ever since. Just before President’s Day this year, Lola organized a Black History Month program at the Haitian Embassy—right down to personally designing and sending out the invitations and preparing all of the food herself for several hundred guests, cooking for a solid four days before as well as the day of the event. Next Page

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