Cleremise Jean-Gilles is from Baille Tourible. Until 2014 this former midwife practiced in the surrounding localities. If it is impossible for her to remember all the births she has witnessed, some births have remained etched in her memory. That of Fanette Nicolas is one of them, but she did not imagine that little Fanette would one day become the main doctor of the Baille Tourible clinic. So it is with pride that the one who describes herself as having been “the most beloved midwife in the community” shares this memory.

Now retired, it is near the clinic that we met Cleremise’s sweet look the first time. Her daughter and the husband of her daughter, both dead, had offered the land where the cholera unit is now located. Today, two of her grandchildren work there, one as an assistant pharmacist and the other in the maintenance department. So the clinic is a place she knows well and on which she watches with kindness.

On this International Women’s Day, we salute Cleremise, Dr Fanette, and all those women who are involved in the development of the community of Baille Tourible and Haiti.

Photo Credit: ithibault