Dr. Jacqueline Gautier and Fr. Richard Leo Frechette
The Nos Petits Frères et Sœurs – NPFS and The St. Luke Foundation for Haiti (FSL), learned with dismay of the kidnapping of their employee, Ms. Marie Bénicia Benoit, which occurred this morning in the Santo 19 area of Port-au-Prince, while she was going at work.
Ms. Benoit is a dedicated Laboratory technician and a loyal collaborator at NPH Haiti St. Damien Pediatric Hospital and the Manitane Prenatal Clinic in St. Luke for the past fifteen years. Even as the situation in the country continues to deteriorate, this umpteenth kidnapping comes to further stain the self-sacrifice and work in the service of others, as embodied by Madame Bénicia and by the medical staff in general.
The organization NPH and the St. Luke Foundation therefore unanimously condemn this heinous act and demand the unconditional release of their employee, Madame Benoit.
As a result, the NPH Organization is closing all its institutions in the country:
- St. Damien Hospital in Tabarre (except for cases of extreme emergency);
- The St. Germaine Center for the disabled in Tabarre;
- The therapy service of St. Germaine;
- The Fr. Wasson Angels of Light School: FWAL in Tabarre;
- The School of St. Helene in Kenscoff.
The St. Luke Foundation in Solidarity informs that only Emergencies will be received at St. Luke Hospital while the activities in satellite clinics will remain closed.
These institutions will remain closed until the unconditional release of Madame Benoit.
