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Boca Raton, Florida, Sept. 5: Boca Raton nurse Nuella Benéche is organizing a drive for new and used clothing and dental supplies for Haitian children. Later this month, she'll deliver them in person.
"I love children. It's heartbreaking to see them suffering in hospitals with no pain medication," Benéche said.
Benéche created the BenJo Foundation to alleviate the suffering of children in her native Haiti.
"Every time I go to Haiti, I see children suffering. They have no food, no medicine and no homes. So many children are dying of AIDS and the country won't talk about it. The people are afraid to tell anyone they have AIDS for fear of being rejected," she said.
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.