Meet the EPE Team

Angelina Lainé

Founder of École la Pépinière Emmanuel

Angelina was born in Soufrière, in Northern Haiti. She was the second of 12 children of successful farmers. At the age of 6, her parents sent her to live in Cap-Haitien, where she had better prospects of schooling in the city. Soufrière was isolated and rural, with no formal medical centers or health professionals. On her trips back home during the summers, Angelina would ask her father what she could do to help. He advised her toward the path of nursing. 

As a nurse, Angelina never forgot her hometown, and she coordinated a vaccination campaign throughout Soufrière. She collaborated with Project HOPE of the Center for the Rural Development of Milot (CRUDEM) Foundation in 2002 to promote health care for children and mothers in Milot. From November 2004 to May 2017, Angelina served as the director of her alma mater, École des Infimières Notre Dame de la Sagesse (EINDS). 

While working in Cap-Haitien, Angelina noticed that many children in the Vertières area roamed the streets because their families could not afford transportation let alone tuition fees. In 1999, she founded École la Pépinière Emmanuel (EPE) in a then one-story building to provide schooling for such children. 

Angelina completed nursing school at EINDS in 1978 and obtained her license as a public health nurse from the same institution. She later received an MPH from Tulane University. Angelina was commonly referred to amongst students, friends, and family as « Marraine Angé » as she was often asked to be godmother for baptisms, graduations, and weddings. This was a testament to the role she played in her community and her genuine care and advocacy. Angelina passed away on May 29th, 2017 while visiting family in Florida.