Dr. Nathalie Colas is the perfect example of a Global Citizen. She is a doctor and Medical Director of the St. Luke Hospital in Haiti. This year, Caterpillar donated a generator to the St. Luke Foundation onstage in Central Park at the annual Global Citizen Festival.

The gift represented more than energy and access to power for the medical center. It reflected an opportunity for Dr. Colas to empower her community in Haiti. In medical facilities and hospitals with the destruction and damage caused by Hurricane Matthew on Oct. 6, people like Dr. Colas need reliable access to energy now more than ever.

“Haiti is my country and I love it, but people here are challenged every day. Access to energy is one of the bigger challenges we face because it affects so many things — development, education, health...and life for everyone,” said Dr. Colas.

Dr. Colas, from Port-Au-Prince, Haiti knows better than anyone how important energy can be in providing opportunities. She has also experienced the danger of life without it.

She has had the power go out in the middle of performing surgery, while treating cholera patients, and caring for people on the verge of life and death in the intensive care unit of her hospital.

“I’ve had the power cut out in the middle of surgeries,” said Dr. Colas.  

Without power, Dr. Colas could not save the lives she needs to in Haiti. And for girls and women around the world to achieve their dreams energy matters just as much.

1.2 billion people around the world don’t have access to energy. It’s a critical tool which is holding many women back from reaching their full potential.

“If we can give people access to energy we can empower them to provide for their families, build their communities and businesses, and realize their dreams,” said Michele Sullivan, President of the Caterpillar Foundation onstage at the 2016 Global Citizen Festival.

Now, Dr. Colas is one less woman who has to worry about access to energy for the positive work she is doing. She is also just one of the women Caterpillar is helping to change the world. 

She Is...Empowered! from Together.Stronger. on Vimeo.