Journal of Sacred Work

"Let the beauty we love become the good we do." ~Rumi

   She is a woman who is on a mission to serve, globally. She is a kindred spirit. She carries a vision in her heart, one of bringing nurses together to improve practice and ultimately the health and well-being of people in communities from around the world. Her name is Wafa Bennis Bennani RN, BSN and her ideals for a better world compel her to lead courageously. She is realizing her dreams in partnership with clinicians and several community organizations.

It began with Wafa leading an effort to start the Upsilon Beta Chapter of the Nursing Honor Society (NHS) on the campus of California State University Fullerton in 2004. As an active  member in the International Nursing Scholarship Committee, I  recall  Wafa made a pitch for a nursing mission to Morocco. She wanted  to collaborate and help other nurses to help people. Her impassioned plea of compassion remains with me to this day.

Wafa, originally from Morocco came to the United States at age 20. She told me, “I am proud to be a nurse,” and soon you'll understand why! Wafa is a school nurse serving in a community outreach capacity helping children and families.  Previously, she worked in an neonatal intensive care unit and also in home health care.

Since 2005, Wafa has coordinated several mission trips to her native land. She and her nursing colleagues have visited hospitals there to meet with nurses and learn about  their greatest needs and the challenges they face.  St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Foundation has helped sponsor travel costs and has provided resource materials such as infection-control training materials.

Moroccan hospitals are severely understaffed and lack even the most basic of medical supplies such as clean linens, soap and water. Wafa’s team focused their initial education efforts on hand hygiene, surveillance, and prevention and successfully decreased hospital acquired infection rates. Wafa then established a web-based nursing collaborative to foster ongoing mentoring, share evidenced based practices, and use case presentations as a learning method. Additionally, Wafa secured NHS membership scholarships and has plans to provide ongoing support for nursing education in Morocco.

In April of 2011, an annual mission is planned in collaboration with Cedar Sinai Hospital A team of doctors and nurses are scheduled to perform open-heart surgeries. The team will bring an entire surgical set up unit. Volunteer nurses will provide side-by-side teaching and mentoring to Morracan nurses in the post surgical care of patients.

Another promising projectWafa is coordinating is in partnership with a Chicago based City Program, funded by a Bill Gates grant. Their goal is to improve water sanitation in urban and rural communities, provide immunizations, and perform health screenings.

I spoke with Wafa after her most recent summer mission to Morocco. She described her experiences working in an extremely busy neonatal unit. The lack of resources in staffing, education and basic supplies was staggering to comprehend. Infant mortality rates are high; for every 1000 babies born, 36 will die. When I asked Wafa about the highlight of the mission she responded, “Well, I helped a baby who was critically ill  and who required intubation. We safely transported this baby to another facility. I saved that baby’s life!”

Wafa is looking for NICU nurses and ACLS and PALS instructors to volunteer for future missions in April and the summer of 2011 to Marrakech, Morocco. For more information, contact Wafa Bennani at 949/ 228-8360 or e-mail her at benfae@hotmail.com

                                                                                                                                          ~liz Sorensen Wessel