In the summer of 2003, the Boston Globe sent me to report of maternal mortality in the Plateau Central of Haiti. Women in rural Haiti have roughly a 1 in 16 chance of dying of childbirth related causes during their lives. However, due to the concerted and stubborn efforts of a number of people under the banner of "Zanmi Lasante," or Partners In Health, the mortality rate mothers in parts of Central Haiti is close to zero. These pictures are of two women: Rose Marie (the first woman in the series) and Elmanie (the second). Rose Marie, although desperately poor, had a relatively blessed pregnancy. She had a medical emergency at five months, but she lived close enough to the Cange hospital (operated by Zanmi Lasante) that her potentially life-threatening problems were addressed quickly. Elmanie, on the other hand, had a much more complicated experience. She showed up on the steps of the Cange hosital fully nine months and two weeks pregnant. HIV positive, smear positive for tuberculosis, and 105 pounds fully clothed and pregnant, Elmanie had made the eight-hour treck on foot over two mountains to reach a washed-out road where she could hitch a five-hour ride to the hospital. Upon arrival, Dr. Maxi (back to photo in one of frames) identified her as needing an emergency c-section. Lea, the nurse/midwife, explained to a terrified Elmanie that the operation would save her life, and that she had no choice but to go through with it. That same evening, baby Samuel was born. His HIV status was unclear, but he appeared to be healthy. The road to recovery for Elmanie was at-once rocky (she fainted from lack of food -- see picture) and entirely unsure in the long-term. She fears returning to her tiny rural village of Bouli to only be rejected as a single mother, suffering from two severe illnesses. Unfortunately, Elmanie's case is not unique in Central Haiti, despite the Herculean efforts of Zanmi Lasante and others to change the abysmal circumstances of life in the Plateau Central.