Spearheading much of mainland Miami nightlife's response to the tragedy in Haiti is a man known as the Haitian Hillbilly. Not only did this proud hipster redneck — born Alain Maximilien — spend many of his formative years in the island nation, but also his father runs La Maison des Anges, a 120-child orphanage just outside Port-au-Prince. And while everyone on-site survived the quake, the structure itself did not fare as well. Children and staff are all living in tents set up on the orphanage's grounds. That's the good news. The bad news is that Maximilien lost a half-brother.
But, as one might suspect, this is not Maximilien's first rodeo in that perennially crippled country. He has been involved periodically with (and remains a staunch advocate of) Project Medishare, a University of Miami School of Medicine group that has provided health care to the Haitian hinterlands since 1994. And his persona was actually born on the island, after a chat in a Port-au-Prince bar led to a spot on Radio NBC.
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