Lotti Latrous was born in Dielsdorf, near Zurich in Switzerland. She grew up in Regensberg and at the age of sixteen went to Geneva as an au-pair girl to learn French. There she met Aziz from Tunisia and found love of her life, a love which is unique in its generosity and respect for each other.
Due to Aziz Latrous’s work as director of Nestlé the family with the children Sonia, Selim and Sarah came to Abidjan, the economic metropolis of the Ivory Coast after spending times in Jeddah, Nigeria and Cairo.
After two years Lotti Latrous started to work at the hospital called “Mother Teresa”. The misery which she experienced there as a privileged woman with chauffeur, cook and swimming pool inspired her to open an ambulatory in Adjouffou, one of the slums of Abidjan. This she did with the full support of her husband. Hardly the ambulatory was opened Nestlé transferred the family to Cairo.
As Lotti Latrous wanted to carry on taking care of the ambulatory, she made a deal with her family – she spent two months in Cairo and one month in Abidjan. Soon it became clear that the balancing act between the ambulatory in the slum in Adjouffou and the family in Cairo is not possible on a continuous basis and a decision has to be taken. Although the decision taken hit the family and the marriage hard, but it didn’t break them up.
All this happened in 1999. Today Selim, Sonia, Sarah and Aziz, who is now retired, live in Switzerland and Lotti in the slums of Adjouffou. If possible Lotti comes to visit her family four times a year. Her family members also visit her from time to time.
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On 8th January 2005 Swiss public elected her as the “Lady of the Year 2004” at the yearly “Swiss Award” ceremony.