Mireya Luis to be named Goodwill Ambassador of Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, September 16, 2016 – Volleyball Hall of Famer Mireya Luis Hernandez, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, just completed a fruitful one-week visit to Haiti, the land of her ancestors on her father’s side.

Part of Mireya’s activities in Haiti included a visit with Haitian President H.E. Jocelerme Privert, who informed the much heralded Cuban former athlete she will be named goodwill ambassador during an official ceremony to take place in the last quarter of this year.

“To me the condition as goodwill ambassador conceded by the President of the Republic of Haiti is like a fourth Olympic medal, only that this one comes from affect and gratitude,” Mireya said. “I am complying with a sacred commitment made to myself and my family of being loyal to my origins and never forget where I am from, my blood and my roots.”

“I am really proud of being Cuban and Haitian and I carry that with honor and the utmost decorum because homeland is humanity, like our apostle Jose Marti said,” she stated.

Besides her busy agenda, Mireya took time to visit the site where his father and maternal grandmother were born.

“I could feel their soul and felt proud of sharing their origins,” she confessed. “Stepped on the soil and sand, wet my feet, listened the music and tasted the exquisite Haitian cuisine. Here I am and I will be helping my beautiful people with all the strength of my soul and my heart.”

In collaboration with the local authorities and the Haitian Volleyball Federation presided over by Ms. Margareth Graham, she has conceived the project Three Medals Looking to Mireya for the development of volleyball in Haiti.

“I hope to count with the support of NORCECA Volleyball Confederation and the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) and all the organizations willing to impulse the project,” she said. “I have arrived in Haiti and I will never let them alone.”

Mireya, who was accompanied by her husband Humberto Rodriguez, former Minister of Sports of Cuba, visited also the ministers for Sports, Economy and Tourism as well as the Cuban Ambassador to Haiti.

She met also with the senior women’s team of Haiti and visited, among other facilities around the country, the Parc Olympique d’Haiti built with the contribution of several international institutions led by the International Olympic Committee and FIVB after the devastating earthquake occurred on January 2010.