OBITUARY: Emmanuel Rejouis, true citizen of the world

BY MATT LAWREY

EMMANUEL REJOUIS Born Haiti, December 1970; died Haiti, January 2010. Married Emily Sanson, of Nelson; father of Kofie-Jade (died Haiti, January 2010), Zenzie (died Haiti, January 2010) and Alyahna.

Emmanuel Koenismark Rejouis was born in the small village of Leogane, Haiti, on Christmas Day 1970 to Pastor Anan-Louis and Emilie Rejouis.

He was the eldest of seven children (five girls and two boys). In the 39 years that followed, Emmanuel became a man that one of his heroes, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, described as ''a true citizen of the world'' and who ''represented the best of the international civil service''.

He lived in Haiti until he was nine when his family fled political upheaval for France. Between 1987 and 1994, he lived and studied in the United States and Switzerland. Nelson became his de-facto  base after he married Emily Sanson who grew up here, attending Hampden Street School and Nelson College for Girls.

Emmanuel travelled extensively throughout the world and worked in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rwanda, the Central African Republic, Nigeria, South Africa, East Timor, Eritrea, Benin, Ethiopia, the US, Burundi and Haiti.

His first language was Haitian Creole, but he became fluent in French and English. He also learnt to speak Spanish and some Italian, and studied Arabic.

Emmanuel's qualifications included a BA (Hons) in history and international comparative studies from the University of Miami and an MA in international history and politics from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. Emmanuel also won a Born to be a Winner award in high school.

 From an early age it became obvious that not only was Emmanuel highly intelligent with a winning personality, great looks and outstanding communication skills, he was also a natural athlete. For years he dreamed of becoming a tennis pro but eventually decided the academic world offered greater opportunity.

He took his first steps towards in his UN career when, in 1997, he became a volunteer press and information  officer based in Kigali, Rwanda.

The next year, he worked as a volunteer election observation co-ordinator based in Bangui, Central African Republic.

The UN then appointed him a volunteer provincial electoral co-ordinator in Nigeria, a role that would involve liaising with the country's electoral commission, the military, police and observer groups.

Emmanuel had been in Nigeria for 48 hours when he met the love of his life. A UN volunteer too, Emily had been in the country for only 24 hours when their paths crossed at a 1998-99 New Year's Eve party. The couple, who would become known as Em and Em, fell in love on the dance floor and only a few days later were planning children.

Together, they went on to work as UN volunteers in South Africa, where Emmanuel again worked as an electoral co-ordinator. From there they were sent to East Timor, where he was a United Nations volunteer programme management officer, a role that saw him administer logistics and field support for 450 UN volunteer electoral officers and 20 UN medical staff.

Timor was also where Emmanuel and Emily first found themselves in harm's way. The couple were in a polling centre registering East Timorese refugees to vote when the place was stormed by 50 machete-wielding militiamen.  

They and some colleagues were held hostage for a few hours. An end to the standoff was negotiated, but it left the couple deeply shaken.

''It was the first time something like that had happened to us and it made us realise we were very vulnerable,'' Emmanuel said in 2005.

After their ordeal, they headed to Ecuador to take time out and learn Spanish. It was during this two-month break that Emmanuel made his first serious foray into his wife's favourite sport of mountain climbing. On a clear, cold morning in November 1999, they reached the summit of Cotopaxi (5897 metres).

From Ecuador, Emmanuel was recruited by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe to his first professional role. He was dispatched to Pristina, Kosovo, where he oversaw all activities for the region's first municipal elections, held in October 2000.

His next role was with the UN civil administration in Kosovo overseeing, among other things, the implementation of policies reconstructing schools.

He was then promoted to senior programme manager for the administration's Ministry of Sport, which led to him overseeing a $2.3 million budget and a team of 18 project managers and staff.

In November 2002, Em and Em celebrated their commitment to each other with a blessing ceremony at Labadee Beach in Haiti. Early in the new year, they were married officially at Nelson's Fairfield House.

In 2003, Emmanuel lectured in African history for five months at the University of Asmara in Eritrea, then became a political affairs officer for the UN mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea. During this time he was selected to be a Dialogue With the Global South fellow in Witswatersrand University, South Africa, where he was a guest lecturer on UN peacekeeping.

In 1995, he was appointed as an electoral officer for the UN Electoral Assistance Division in New York, working on electoral assistance to Benin. His most recent UN post, between 2006 and 2009, was as a political affairs officer for the integrated mission in Burundi, analysing the political situation there and writing reports for the secretary-general to be presented to the Security Council.

The couple's three children were born in Nelson, Kofie-Jade Iris Rejouis came into the world on August 14, 2004, Zenzie Jaz Amelie Rejouis on January 17,  2006, and Alyahna Jola Imani Rejouis on April 11, 2008. With careful planning and some luck, Emmanuel made it back to Nelson in time to be present at each of their births.

In May 2009, the family moved to Haiti, where Emily had a job with the UN peacekeeping mission.

Emmanuel became the girls' primary caregiver and spent some of his time developing a not-for-profit T-shirt programme, NonProfitees.

He was thrilled to be once again living in the country of his birth. His pride in Haiti reached new heights and he was inspired to create T-shirts promoting the country. After his death along with two of his daughters in the massive Haitian earthquake on  January 12, a T-shirt featuring the Creole expression ''kenbe la'' (don't give up) was  produced and worn by family members at his burial at Wakapuaka Cemetery on March 2.

For all his extraordinary experiences, the most important thing in Emmanuel's life was his family. The fact he died saving  Alyahna's life and  that he sang to her as she lay beneath him in the dark under their collapsed apartment building comes as no surprise to anyone who knew him.

At the funeral, one of his sisters, Sheila, described Emmanuel as ''the bond'' between their siblings.

''We live in different countries, on different continents, but with all his UN missions, Emmanuel always visited us. He was the chain between us.

"He gave us news of each other. He had a great sense of family and he loved Emily, '' she said.

Emily also spoke passionately at the funeral of her love and admiration for Emmanuel.

"I was so proud to declare to the world that I had met my match and that I was to be known as the other half of the love-struck and invincible Em and Em,'' she said.

"You lived life with the belief that no dream was beyond your reach and I always stood beside you so proudly.''

- © Fairfax NZ News