In 1999, Swiss woman Lotti Latrous founded the charity Centre l'Espoir (Center of Hope) for the poorest of the poor in the slums of Abidjan (Ivory Coast).

Due to an airport expansion, Lotti Latrous was forced to look for a new location for her work. Fortunately, a suitable plot of land was acquired in Grand Bassam, 20 kilometers away, and in 2017 everything was moved to its beautiful new home. In Grand Bassam, as there had been in Adjouffou, there is an outpatient clinic, a hospice, and an orphanage. In the outpatient clinic alone, 15,000 consultations are held annually.

The Centre l'Espoir (Center of Hope) also provides emergency aid for families who have become completely destitute. Today, up to 25,000 cases a year are handled in its social services office. Among other things, the aid consists of covering school costs or rent, the lending of microcredits to destitute women, and programs against malnutrition.

The orphanage is a success story. Over the past 20 years, several hundred children have passed through the Center of Hope. They were all enrolled in school and able to learn professions. Some of them have even returned to relatives. The majority of the children in the orphanage were infected with HIV from their mothers at birth. Daily medication ensures their survival. Half of the caregivers are also HIV positive. All children share the same fate, they help each other and are one big family.

Marie Odile Gabet, from France, has been working in the outpatient clinic and social office since 2014. This enables Lotti Latrous to rest her lungs, which have been damaged by severe tuberculosis, and to occasionally recover in Switzerland. Since March 2018, the Frenchman Cedric Malik Gulamhoussen has also been part of the team and supports Lotti and Marie Odile in administrative matters and in the maintenance of the centers.

www.lottilatrous.ch