When machine gun fire erupts outside the barbed-wire fences surrounding Fontaine Hospital Center, the noise washes over a cafeteria full of tired, scrub-clad medical staff.
Gunfire is part of daily life here in Cite Soleil -- the most densely populated part of the Haitian capital and the heart of Port-au-Prince's gang wars.
One of Haiti's most powerful gang federations, G9, blockaded Port-au-Prince's most important fuel terminal, essentially paralyzing the country for two months. In a February report, the UN documented 263 murders between July and December in just the small area surrounding the hospital, noting that violence has "severely hampered" access to health services.
All the clinics in the area where she lives have closed, she said. For two months last year she couldn't leave the house because gangs holding the city hostage made travel through the dusty, winding streets nearly impossible. The young Haitian doctor snaps on a pair of white surgical gloves and makes an incision into a pregnant patient's belly with a steady hand that only comes with practice.
Those risks are only compounded by the fact that many of Joseph's patients are sexual violence survivors or widows whose husbands were killed by gangs. Permeating the struggle is an air of fear.
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