26 years after founding her ‘Centre L'Espoir’ in the Ivory Coast, Lotti is handing over the management of her aid organisation. The soon-to-be 72-year-old ‘Swiss Woman of the Year 2004’ started out in the slums of Adjouffou. Eight years ago, she moved her centres to Grand-Bassam. Her successor, Barbara Jurisic, will soon take over there.
To the great joy of Lotti and her foundation, a successor for Lotti has been found: Barbara Jurisic (51) from Belgium is a trained psychologist and has been working in development aid for many years, including several years for Médecins sans Frontières, Médecins du Monde and the ICRC, mainly in Africa and Asia. She not only brings extensive expertise and experience, but also the empathy that Lotti had always hoped for in her successor. At the same time, Marie Odile (73), Lotti's right-hand woman, who is also stepping down, has been replaced by Llum Fouz (49), a trained Assistant Kinesitherapist from Spain who has been living in West Africa for decades. Barbara and Llum have been working at the ‘Centres L'Espoir’ for several months now and have settled in perfectly. It is also fortunate that the two harmonise just as Lotti and Marie Odile did. The formal handover will take place at the end of May 2025 on the occasion of the 26th anniversary celebration. Lotti and her husband Aziz will continue to visit the village regularly and spend a lot of time in the Ayoba village, which was built a few years ago as an extension of the existing facilities.
Barbara Jurisic, Lotti Latrous, Marie Odile Gabet, and Llum Fouz in the beautiful garden of the Centres L’Espoir (from left to right)
The foundation would like to thank Lotti and Aziz and Marie Odile for their invaluable work over the last 26 years and also for the extremely professional and carefully managed succession process. The Latrous family remains represented on the foundation board alongside the independent foundation board members, with Lotti as president and husband Aziz and second daughter Sarah as members of the foundation board.
Lotti: ‘I am incredibly grateful for everything we have been able to achieve here, for every moment in which we have been able to help the poorest of the poor, thanks to the incredible support of our loyal donors. And I am happy and relieved to be able to hand over my life's work to Barbara; she has everything I wanted in a successor: competence and, above all, a heart in exactly the right place. She has my complete trust.’
Barbara: ’With the utmost humility and deep respect, I will do my utmost to continue this wonderful humanitarian work together with the established team on site and the foundation in Switzerland. The holistic approach with which the poorest are cared for here is unique!’
