Haiti-born Winique “Willie” Orelus recalls that when his father Maxis Orelus fell ill and died in the mid-1990s, his family couldn’t hold a proper funeral because they barely had money for clothes, let alone burial costs. Days after his death, a group of neighbors came together and helped to collect Maxis’ body from his bedroom to bury him themselves.
After spending 24 years living in Haiti as part of a family of 15, Willie Orelus became desperate to find a better life for himself. He managed to secure passage on a small boat packed with some 250 people bound for the United States. Not everyone who boarded the boat survived the voyage across the Caribbean Sea, Orelus recalls, and his situation only worsened when he made landfall in Miami, Florida.
Immigration authorities quickly apprehended Orelus, and he spent roughly four months in prison before he successfully applied for sanctuary in the United States and made his way to Mississippi. He spent several months homeless before a member of a group home in Jackson introduced him to Jackson middle-school teacher Debra Poke, who mentored Orelus and helped him better his English language skills.
Another Haitian man named Louis Exilis, who ran a New Orleans-based electrical contracting business, also reached out to Orelus to offer him whatever support he could. Exilis trained Orelus in gas and plumbing systems and taught him the necessary skills to work as an electrician in Jackson, while Orelus worked as a dishwasher at Bonsai Japanese Steakhouse in Flowood.
“Louis was someone who had been here longer than a lot of us and decided to do something good with what he’d built,” Orelus told the Mississippi Free Press. “He and Debra Poke were good people to follow and helped me out so much.”
‘A New Stage’
After roughly 10 years of working as a contractor for various companies in and around the Jackson metro, Orelus decided to take the plunge into running his own business. In late November 2025, he realized his ambition with the opening of Little Haiti Caribbean (4409 N. State St., Suite A) in Jackson.
Orelus wanted a restaurant to be his first business because of his fond memories of spending time in the kitchen with his mother Manici and his grandmother Janet in their home in Haiti.
“I grew up standing at my mother and grandmother’s knees watching them work in the kitchen cooking anything you could possibly think of: Haitian cabbage, jerk chicken, oxtails, you name it. I learned everything from them,” he said.
The menu at Little Haiti includes griot fried pork, legume vegetable medley, fried plantains, stewed or fried chicken and turkey, fried goat, curry chicken, shrimp alfredo, Haitian Pâté Kòde chicken pastry pockets, fried snapper, oxtails, slow-cooked cabbage, and more.
Orelus celebrated the grand opening of Little Haiti by hosting a buffet with all of his restaurant’s dishes. Byram-native business representative and food critic Fallah the Foodie was among the crowd of people that gathered for the event.
“I tried a little of everything while I was there, but I especially loved their oxtails and coleslaw,” Fallah said. “The spices were so different from anything else you’ll find, and I thought all the food was filled with joy. The vibe and the music were as good as the food, and I felt proud to see the community come together to celebrate someone beginning a new stage in their life.”
While Orelus was working to build a better life for himself in the United States, he also gave back to his family back in Haiti. Over the years, he helped to build a new house for his mother and had a proper casket made to honor his late father.
“It took me 10 years of hard work to do everything I have, and sometimes I look at myself and cry like a baby to see where I am now,” Orelus said. “I came here with no money and no shoes and never even got to go to school, but today I’m clean, there’s no drinking or drugs in my life, and I have a 21-year-old son named Quincy, and I think that’s all just a blessing from God. I think anyone can find opportunities if they put their mind to it, and no one is stopping you from finding it except your own self.”
Little Haiti Caribbean is open every day from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, call 601-665-4489 or visit littlehaiticaribbean.com.