Since 2005, Nicolas Martin has allowed people originally from Réunion Island, now dispersed all across the world, thousands of kilometres from their native island, to meet over the Internet.  Over time, the website Réunionnnisdumonde.com has grown in size.

Upon his return to his native island in 2005, Nicolas Martin decided to publish, on an Internet site, accounts of people originally from Réunion Island, who, like him, had left their island, often for professional reasons.  Réunionnaisdumonde.com came about thanks to one man’s dream to make the community of overseas people originally from Réunion Island visible to all. 

Not only does he help locals to feel less lonely when they are 10000 kilometres from their native island and allow them to become part of an expatriate community, but he also creates a link between the island and its diaspora.  Nicolas Martin has given people the opportunity to describe their life path, rich in travel and encounters.

Nicolas hopes to allow all the island’s expatriates to benefit from these encounters, whether in need of a job or simply an evening spent in fellow company…The island’s expatriates can leave their CV or a small advertisement on the website…

Accompanied right from the start by the ‘Agence de Développement de La Réunion (Agency for the development of Réunion Island) the website works towards facilitating exchanges and opening Réunion Island up towards the rest of the world, by promoting the island’s image and finding its talented and competent natives that are currently hidden in metropolitan France and abroad.  In just over a year’s time, there will be more than 3000 CVs on line.  In July 2007, there were 3500 people signed up to the website and 4500 received the newsletter.

Television, radio and some help

Private and public partners took an interest in him, therefore helping the website to take off.  First of all, he created an online boutique in order to allow the island’s expatriates to find the flavours of their island, at home.  More services have recently been added.

Reunionnaisdumonde.com is constantly expanding.  Here are a few examples:
- The diffusion of job offers and profile searches for recruitment firms and local companies.
- Grants for free lodging in order to help expatriates to find lodgings.
- Host family planning for young people who arrive in metropolitan France.
- The launch of a range of parcels at Christmas time in order to allow expatriates to consume and support local produce.
- Television and the shooting of a series of programmes that had never been broadcasted before.
- Radio Akout, a carrier for the promotion of local music and artists on the Internet.

With the aim of opening up towards the rest of the world and bringing together people from Réunion Island, living across the world, Runweb.com and Réunionnaisdumonde.com have become partners.  Every month, Internet surfers can get in touch with travelling expatriates on Runweb.com.

Véronique Tournier
December 2007