How are you in Haiti?
For the last ten years we have lived immersed in violence. We suffer horrors. The capital is surrounded by armed gangs that kill and kidnap people, and rape girls and women.
Does no one order?
No one has that will. The population lives under fear and stress, which has produced a massive and catastrophic flight of the most competent people in the country.
When did you take charge of St. Damien Children's Hospital?
At 32 years old, twenty years ago, I started as a pediatrician and then I created the oncology unit, but I have been the executive director for a year.
Do you remember your first day of work?
Perfectly. The hospital treats vulnerable children from poor families, and on my first day I saw children die who could have lived. There was no one in the country capable of treating a child with cancer. He blew me away.
And you decided to become an oncologist?
Yes, I studied and then managed to open the pediatric oncology department. I only had one bed, now I'm 17.
Thanks to state funds?
No, health is not the government's priority. We serve 80,000 children from the suburbs of the Haitian capital thanks to the international NGO Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos.
What do you face every day?
To the death. In Haiti one goes out into the street and does not know if he is going to return home because the violence and kidnappings are so high.
From home to hospital and from hospital to home?
Of course, but the hospital is located in a very dangerous area, surrounded by armed gangs. Sometimes when there are clashes we have to stay for two or three days.
A difficult life.
Death is very present, at any moment an armed gang can break into your house and do whatever they want with you.
Have you ever thought of leaving?
No, my children are older and study abroad. You are safe. They ask for one or two million dollars for a kidnapping. I insist to my family that if they kidnap me they don't pay, because that is feeding a vicious circle.
Aren't you afraid?
Haitian women are the pillar of society, in the hospital there are more women working than men, but together with the girls we are victims of assaults and rapes.
A sad nonsense.
Being a mother is a complex exercise, we suffer from insecurity, kidnappings and lack of access to healthcare, not to mention the high cost of living.
How do you combat anxiety and stress?
I don't think about negative things, I don't anticipate. I pray before going to work and pray that nothing happens to me, and before I return I do the same. And when I get home I meditate.
To calm the nerves?
Yes, and I also implanted it in the hospital, an hour of stress relief for all the doctors.
Anxiety among health workers must be high.
A lot, I try to laugh, tell and listen to jokes. I am a very funny person, for me there are many opportunities to laugh despite the difficult situations we experience every day.
Get bitter just enough.
A smile is hope, and there are always reasons to smile. It makes me very happy to see a sick child arrive and leave recovered, because it shows you that you have been useful for something.
Have you received death threats?
Yes, it is usual. The last director had to leave the country when she wanted to reform the hospital and she received death threats, there are violent people in the hospital itself. They kidnap teachers, public employees, doctors.
And how do children grow?
During childhood they suffer a lot: hunger, diseases... Adolescents, if they have not had the opportunity to develop in a calm family environment and receive minimal training, join gangs.
Many health centers in the country have closed.
80% are private and are in crisis because they do not have professionals, and the public part is perpetually on strike and without equipment. It has closed 70% of the centers.
Describe the situation to me.
Families can't buy soap to wash themselves, garbage isn't collected for fear of armed gangs, schools don't work continuously, and we don't have potable water. The cholera has returned.
Where did you study medicine?
In Cuba, for ten years, but I never considered not going back, and I want my children to come back, we have to join forces to stabilize and pacify this country.
Do you still have hope?
Yes, as Haitians we must have an awakening, and if the trained people do not leave the country, we will succeed.
