16590: (Hermantin)Sun-Sentinel-Nurse forms group to aid impoverished children in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


Nurse forms group to aid impoverished children in Haiti



By Diane Feen
Special Correspondent

August 29, 2003

Delray Beach healthcare worker Mimose Christopher has limited resources, but
she's happy to help her fellow church member clothe improverished Haitian
children.

"I don't have a lot of money to give, but I gave clothing to Nuella because
I want to help these children," Christopher said. "When I was in Haiti two
years ago, I saw people with no food, no money, sleeping on the ground."

Her friend Nuella Benéche is a Boca Raton registered nurse who has started
the Benjo Foundation to relieve the suffering of children in her native
country.

"I think what Nuella is doing is a valuable resource, and to donate to her
organization is a quick and easy way to bring joy to children in Haiti,"
said Greenacres resident Stephanie Moreau, a Delray Beach social worker.

In the eight months since the nonprofit foundation was started, it has
established a children's medical clinic in a private school near
Port-au-Prince. The clinic is open every other Sunday, with two
pediatricians treating children in need. So many people arrived at the
clinic when it first opened, they had to limit the number of children seen.
Doctors now treat 150 children a day there.

"I see children two times a month at the new clinic in southern Haiti, but
there is a dire need for education here. Many of the children I see at the
clinic have infectious diseases, pneumonia, scabies, upper respiratory
infections and are suffering from malnutrition," said Dr. Lyonel Allen, a
volunteer for the BenJo Foundation.

There are only 1.2 doctors and 1.3 nurses per 10,000 Haitians, and 40
percent of the population is without access to primary health care,
according to a report by the Haitian Embassy in February. The child
mortality rate is 80 percent per 1,000 births, and the life expectancy is
49.6 years.

These statistics have propelled Benéche from her day job as a registered
nurse to a crusader.

Even though she left Haiti 20 years ago, Benéche hasn't left the plight of
needy Haitian children behind. One of her employers, Barbara Tackore, of RN
Partners, sees a difference in Benéche since she started the organization.

"Nuella is very genuine. I've seen her work as a nurse, and I've seen how
passionate she is about the BenJo Foundation. Many times she'll turn down
the opportunity to work because she has a meeting for the foundation. Not
many people will turn down work, but she's so dedicated, and that's rare in
people," said Boca Raton resident Tackore, who is coordinator of nursing for
RN Partners.

Benéche may not be able to put the BenJo Foundation first financially.

"We had our first fund-raiser on June 28. We flew in the top Haitian singers
from New York to perform at Olympic Heights High School for a benefit
concert, and we ended up losing $4,000. I have to go back to work to earn
the money that we lost. Right now we're using personal money," Benéche said.

Her dream is to open a 100-bed hospital in Haiti for children with AIDS.

One of the advisers to the BenJo Foundation, Onickel Augustine, of North
Miami Beach, also sees the urgency.

"In Haiti, there are so many children who need help. We're trying to raise
money to send them to school and help orphans that are sick with the AIDS
virus. I will do everything in my power to raise money, whatever it takes,"
said Augustine, former director for the Society for Aid to the Blind.

Meanwhile, Benéche is organizing a drive for new or used clothing and dental
supplies for Haitian children. Later this month, she'll deliver them in
person.
Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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