Juan David Latorre
Led by Ambassador Guy Lamothe, the Embassy of Haiti celebrated last Friday at its headquarters, for the fourth consecutive year, the International Women’s Day and honoured the Haitian Woman of the Year 2024 in Spain with the award winners Adela Pierre-Louis and Ann Bejard de Armand.
Guy Lamothe addressed the guests noting that “we wanted to maintain a tradition of honouring women of excellence. Today you will have the opportunity to see their contribution to Haitian and Spanish society. We know very well that for a long time women were treated ‘differently’ and on that level I want to talk about my country. Women right now in Haiti are being abused in all sorts of ways by armed gangs. We have to pray for Haiti to come out of this chaos. And I would like to thank the Spanish authorities and their government for their promise to help us in this fight against insecurity and against these gangs”.
Referring to the two award winners in this Tribute to Haitian Women in Spain 2024, the Haitian ambassador addressed the first award winner, Adela Pierre-Louis. “Haitian woman living in Spain since 1979, educator, housewife, nurse who has recently taken on the Covid with determination and constant concern to care for her patients. Added to this is her permanent closeness to her Haitian compatriots. Determination, dedication and spirit of sacrifice earned her the highest award of the Spanish-Haitian Friendship Circle last December”.
The ambassador then spoke to those present about the second award winner, Ann Bejard de Armand, whom he referred to as “a Haitian born in Spain, totally open-minded to Haitian culture. Adventure and chance helped her to embrace Haiti, its culture, its mind and a Haitian as well, marrying him. Ann also discovered the therapeutic effect of writing by publishing the novel, Bloody Sunset, about a Caribbean island that could very well be Haiti. Also, the association Ann runs, called Etno Art Marbella, promotes modern Haitian painting.
The event was attended by representatives of the Diplomatic Corps, along with the ambassadors of Honduras, Taiwan, Bangladesh and Nicaragua.
