RENMEN: The Beginnings

The RENMEN foundation exist today because one woman refused to accept the unacceptable the night she discovered a very sick infant child abandoned near her home and her outrage at discovering that hospital workers initially would refused to treat the child, malnourished and near death. But let's go back even further than that night to see how it all began...

The beginnings of RENMEN trace back to more than almost 20 years ago, when Madame Florence Thybulle (a.k.a Mammi to the children, or Mama to the volunteers) discovered her cook had been distributing leftover food on the street outside Madame Florence's family's walled property. Florence was unaware that the cook had been leaving leftovers for children in the neighborhood until she arrived home earlier than usual one afternoon and saw a line of children waiting outside the walls of the home. Florence was surprised at the cook's reaction to her discovery, who began apologizing profusely, apparently afraid of getting fired. Florence reassured her that it was fine and said to continue to leave food out, and she suggested even making a bit extra. Most of the food was coming from the leftovers from madame Florence's mother, who was catering for the Peace Corps. But once the Peace Corps had left, it was the end of the leftovers every afternoon for the children and their families in the neighborhood.

So, since the kids were expecting that extra food she tried to continue the feeding program, but only on Sunday. One Sunday, when she got home from Church, there were several mothers waiting outside the gate. These were the mothers of the neighborhood children who had been coming for the leftover food. Mama thought that they were coming to eat because she was feeding the children and thought now their parents were coming as well. The mothers were very grateful for their children being fed, but they had actually come not to eat but to tell her that they always tried to prepare a little something for their children on Sunday as it was the one time during the week that they were able to do so. They had come simply to ask her to continue with the food on another day of the week, but not Sundays. Well, Wednesday was the day, but once a week turned into two times, then three times. It wasn't long before she began leaving food out every day including every last Sunday of the month to have a birthday party for the children in the neighborhood.

It was on a Sunday afternoon, while Florence was having a birthday party for those children who had had a birthday that month, that a woman named Linda came to her and said that a baby had been left to die further down the road. When Florence discovered him, his feet had been chewed up by rats and he was completely unresponsive and near death. Immediately, she picked him up and got in the car to take him to the nearest hospital. On the way, she stopped to try to get him pedialite but she discovered she had no money with her and the shopkeeper refused to give it to her even seeing the condition that the baby was in. Refusing to take no for an answer (and not for the last time that evening), she demanded that they give it to her, promising that she would pay them back. They finally agreed and when she tried to pour it into his mouth the baby was unresponsive as it dribbled back out of his mouth.

When she finally got him to the hospital and the doctor saw the baby, the doctor refused to do anything because he said that the child was going to die, he was too far gone off, and he could see this child was not hers but from a poor family. The doctor asked why she was bringing this child there? Mama refused to accept the unacceptable response this doctor was giving her, demanding that he treat the baby because it was his duty as a doctor. He finally agreed.

Mama stayed with the baby all that night in the hospital and it was that night that she felt God speaking to her, saying that He had blessed her with three beautiful and healthy children of her own and now He wanted her to take care of His children, beginning with this child. She knew that her life was about to drastically change. The baby lived through the night and today, Davidson is a healthy, bright, and exceptionally kind and caring young man. After Davidson's addition to her family, she began taking in more children as people began to leave their kids there once they realized she would take care of them.

Mama, a retired laboratory technician, used her savings and inheritance to turn what was once a luxurious, walled family home with gardens and a swimming pool into the RENMEN foundation you see today. The property includes dormitories for boys and girls, a school, a periodic medical clinic, and accommodations for volunteers who come to help. It is an incredible picture of home and family, and an amazing testimony of the difference one person can make by simply refusing to accept the unacceptable.