Women Empowered
The women who provide health care and leadership for PIH reflect on their impact
Female doctors, nurses, community health workers, and administrators provide the bulk of PIH’s health services around the world. Visit any of the clinics or hospitals we support, and you’ll meet women doing everything from treating cancer victims to delivering babies. It’s no exaggeration to say they form the backbone of PIH’s work.
On International Women’s Day, read about the impact our female colleagues make every day.
Enelesi Manyamba
Village health worker in Malawi
“You can have a very robust system at the health facility, but if patients don’t show up, then it becomes worthless. By visiting patients in their households, I am able to identify diseases at the earliest stage before they become complex and expensive to treat. This makes me proud and motivated. This work is not all about money, but passion for your brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, and community. I work in the village where I come from.”
Georgina Díaz
Community health worker in Mexico
“[One of my patients] is a little old woman with dementia; she forgets the little things she is going to do and where she left things like her medication, and that makes her feel very lonely. She is the patient I visit the most — sometimes more than two times a week — and I am always available for her. I believe I improved her life with my constant visits. Little by little, she trusted me more. Now I feel she knows that she is not alone, that there are people here to help her.”
Marc Julmisse
Chief nursing 0fficer at University Hospital in Mirebalais (HUM) in Haiti
“As I was walking down the halls of the hospital at HUM, I saw an elderly man accompanying his 24-year-old son, who appeared extremely frail. The gentleman had a desperate, lost look on his face, and I knew I had to stop and help. I decided to accompany them, half supporting the young man alongside his father, to the outpatient clinic. I made sure the young man received his lab exams and his medication injection, and had a clinical visit scheduled. Moments like that are what make me feel like I can make a difference.”
Joalane Mabathoana
Manager of maternal and child health services in Lesotho
“As part of PIH’s team in Lesotho working in remote areas of the country, where health services are inaccessible, there is nothing more pleasing and rewarding to me than reaching the most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities with health care. It’s making a positive impact in their lives, and bringing hope where there is despair.”
Eudeli Velasquez
Community health worker in Mexico
“[One of my patients] was isolated because he was sick, because everyone was afraid of him. He is a patient with schizophrenia, and I offered to be his community health worker. I’ve been happy because he is doing well. Now he is a normal person, like any other person, and he is no longer [locked] in that little room. I’m glad I could be there for him so that he takes his medication and goes to his doctor’s appointments. More than anything, I’m glad I can be useful for him.”
Loune Viaud
Co-executive director of PIH in Haiti
“Samuel came about five years ago to Zanmi Beni [the orphanage on the Port-au-Prince campus of PIH in Haiti]. We didn’t have any information on him, but we guessed that he was about 6 months old. A staff member from child welfare services brought him. They explained they found Samuel and had nowhere to put him. They knew we weren’t accepting more kids. It broke my heart to say no to this little baby. So I said, ‘OK, fine. One last one.’ We call him Little Pastor. He can recite Psalm 23. He will start very quiet, then get louder. He’s very, very smart. Samuel and another boy, Christopher, are always together.”
Today, you can help support women around the world by taking this quick, 3-question quiz on women’s health and empowerment. For every person who takes the quiz, a generous donor will give $1 to support Partners In Health: http://bit.ly/2lAnYpl
