Please read the story of Benji. My parents met Benji 3 years ago on one of the many mission trips they have taken to the Sosua area of the Dominican Republic . A picture of him with my dad is attached.
I am writing in hopes that someone who reads this will be able to help in the adoption process of this amazing and deserving boy. We are not looking for money, just someone who has connections or ideas and can help to make this painstaking process come to fruition.
Benji is an amazing 13 year old Haitian boy who lives in the DR. There in lies the first of many problems for Benji. He lives in the impoverished village of El Batey la Union . Benji and his mother lived in one of the many one room shacks in El Batey la Union . Benji’s mom met a man, they all lived together and she had other children with him.
When Benji was 6 his mother was killed when their home collapsed on her. This is not uncommon there. His “step father” then left town with Benji’s siblings leaving 6 year old Benji on the streets to fend for himself. This of course was devastating for Benji, but he survived. For years he fed himself from the local dump and slept on the street at night or in the front of neighbor’s homes. This was his life.
My father met Benji when he was about 10 years old. On missions trips to the DR the teams always go into the remote villages to bring the mobile clinic to the people. It was on one of these visits that my father met him. When he came home Benji was all he could talk about. The pictures he took spoke a thousand words. Benji, having experienced so much loss and devastation, was so vibrant with sparkling white teeth and penetrating eyes.
To look at his picture was so sad. Upon first glance you think he is wearing khaki pants, but in reality his black legs and knees were so dirty that they were discolored, yet he had a hope in his eyes that was obvious. Even as a homeless orphan who had been on his own for years, his spirit had not been destroyed. My parents had to do something to help him. They contacted the missionaries who were living in the DR and asked for advice. They decided to pay a family on a monthly basis to care for Benji. In order to receive the money the family would have to make sure Benji went to school every day (he had never been to school) and bring him to the clinic for checkups. I
n the past 2 ½ years, Benji has lived with 4 different families. Each family seemed like a good fit at first but they rarely took on the responsibility of caring for Benji for long. The people always loved the money they were receiving from my parents but did not hold to their obligations to Benji. He has been rejected in every turn of his life. My parents have visited Benji many times over the past 3 years, he knows them well. They have been able to take him with them to eat, or spend time in the pool at the hotel, a small escape from the reality of his life.
In the beginning when they went to see him all of the people in the village would react in shock questioning why they cared about “the crazy one.” That is what they called him. That changed as my parents made sure he was cared for and well dressed, bringing down clothes and toys on every visit. Benji went from “the crazy one” to the best dressed kid in the village. My parents were exploring adoption but were content that his situation in the DR had improved enormously because he was not on the streets and was being cared for.
On the most recent visit to the DR this month, my parents were saddened by Benji’s situation. In the year since they saw him last his step father has returned for brief visits to the village with his siblings. Benji requested over and over to be allowed to see his siblings but his step father would not allow it.
This sent Benji into a depression and my parents were told that he has cried every day for the past 6 months. The family that was caring for him decided that they could no longer handle him and turned him away to once again fend for himself. We are all very concerned for him. He has lost hope for the future and in reality if he stays in the DR there is very little hope for him. He has lost that twinkle in his eyes and was not happy and content in his visit with my parents. We are both horrified and heartbroken that he is back on the streets.
He has expressed that he wants to come live in the US but my parents cannot even tell him that they want to make that happen because the reality is that they don’t know if they can.
I fully understand that there are millions of children in the world that need help, but this child has touched the hearts of everyone in my family. He is loved very much by us. I lay awake at night unable to sleep because I worry about what he is going through. I think of my own teenage boys and am heartbroken for Benji and his pain.
I know that we can’t help everyone but we can help him. We must help him. My parents want to give him a home. They want to adopt him. Unfortunately it is extremely difficult to adopt out of the DR, never mind adopting a Haitian child out of the DR. He has no papers, no record of who he his. We are in the process of trying to get a birth certificate for him and a death certificate for his mother to prove he is indeed an orphan. Unfortunately that is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many obstacles in our way to help him. If you know of anyone that can help us to help Benji, PLEASE share this blog post.
I will explore all options. I am so scared for him and we have to get him into a loving safe home. He is already such a part of our family. He pictures are up at my parent’s house and he already has a room there. It is not the guest room…it is Benji’s room and there is a picture of him on the door.
My parents have been researching ways to adopt him for a long time, but we thought he was living in a safe environment. Now that we know he is on his own again we cannot be patient. We have to move this along much more quickly.
PLEASE if you know anyone who you think might be able to help either let me know or share this story with them. We are desperate to help this boy.
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This guest blog post was written by Maria DiLeo of Manorville, NY. If you can help her, her number is 631-255-1057 cell or you can contact her via email at noenre@yahoo.com.
