In a note of condolence dated June 1st, Ronald Gérard D'Mezard, the Ministry of Youth and Sports said to have learned with "deep sadness" of the death at the age of 92 of Jacques Joachim, former President and founder of the Haitian Volleyball Federation (FHVB).

Engineer and former Colonel of the Armed Forces of Haiti, Jacques Joachim has devoted his entire life to volleyball. He founded the Haitian Volleyball Federation before introducing it to schools and working to create clubs and leagues. During these decades of presidency of the Federation, the volleyball, his passion and determination have greatly contributed to the development of volleyball in Haiti which has earned him the most prestigious places in regional and world federations.

"With the departure of Jacques Joachim, volleyball loses a giant and the Haitian sports family an exceptional leader who has marked the careers of several generations and of several great figures of Haitian volleyball" underlines Minister D'Mezard who salutes the memory of the one who spent his life in the service of Haitian youth.

"In these painful circumstances, Minister Ronald Gérard D'Mezard, expresses his deepest sympathies to the family of Jacques Joachim, to his relatives, to his brothers in arms, to the Haitian Volleyball Federation and to the sports community mourning the death of the first Haitian to be inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame [in November 2017 at the International Hall of Fame in Holyoke, Massachusetts]. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22519-haiti-flash-jacques-joachim-elected-to-the-world-volleyball-hall-of-fame.html

The Ministry invites the volleyball family to reserve for this great patriot a tribute to the dimension of his dedication to serving young people and his commitment to the development of volleyball.

That his soul rests in peace !"

HL/ BF/ HaitiLibre