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FROM EL DORADO TO HAITI: SAVING THE CHILDREN
The Frances Landers’ Story
by Susan Turbeville

Frances Landers of El Dorado, Arkansas, will celebrate her 91st birthday with a trip to the remote mountains of Southern Haiti. This remarkable woman has replaced Voodoo doctors with churches and poverty with education for thousands of children in the mountains of Haiti.

The irony is that Frances is not an ordained minister or an educator nor even fluent in Creole, Haiti’s official language. Frances is a humanitarian in the truest sense of the word and a pioneering spirit, who through sheer determination and a love for a country and children who are not her own, developed the preeminent education organization in Haiti, The Haiti Education Foundation. Frances' foundation brings education to thousands in the mountains of Haiti.

Unbelievably, the Foundation provides school, shoes, uniform, milk, lunch, textbooks and a Creole Bible for $91/year or .24 cents per day. The secret to the success of this story is that 100% of all donations go directly to the mission in Haiti.

The story of Frances Landers, a Christian woman known as “HEF”, began 31 years ago. when, at the age of 60, Frances began traveling with her husband, Dr. Gardner Landers, an ophthalmologist, to a hospital in Haiti where he performed cataract surgery on many Haitians who were needlessly blind. With Frances at his side, they spent one week, twice a year over the next 12 years bringing healing service to blind Haitians. During those years, Frances met Father Jean Wilfrid Albert, an Episcopal Priest serving as hospital chaplain, who told her how desperately the children of Haiti needed education.

FRANCES WITNESSED THE POVERTY STRICKEN CHILDREN

He drove Frances to a small village where Voodoo was practiced and where there were no schools...a familiar scenario in the small villages and mountain regions of Haiti. Frances witnessed the poverty stricken children, with bloated stomachs and blank stares roaming around aimlessly with a look of hopelessness in their sad eyes.

Determined to do something to help the children, Frances came back to El Dorado armed with photographs and the goal of raising enough money for one school of 400 children. Frances appealed to her church, family and friends for funding and soon the goal was a reality. The first school and church at Mercery was established in 1981 as a direct result of Frances' efforts.

Upon her return to Haiti, Father Albert showed Frances the new facilities. Many of the children walked miles to school. She saw the students’ smiling eyes and faces shining with pride as they happily sat at their desks with bibles and textbooks.

Along with providing the children with a future, through education, Frances hoped that someday these children would read their Creole Bible to their parents. Believing that her work had been done, Frances returned to the United States.

On the following trip to Haiti, the Landers’ learned that Father Albert had been reassigned to the very remote mountains of southern Haiti. While visiting Father Albert he again challenged Frances – this time to help him establish four more schools and worship centers in the mountains. When she reacted with doubt of her ability, Father Albert confidently looked her in the eye and said with a smile, “If God wants schools in the mountains, there will be schools in the mountains.”

Although not a professional fund raiser, Frances was not daunted by the task at hand. She quickly returned home to El Dorado and went to work! She set up her office at her kitchen table and started raising money.

Her plan in raising this money was to establish a foundation where 100% of every dollar donated would go to the schools in Haiti. She arranged speaking engagements at churches and civic organizations in Arkansas and Louisiana and paid all of her own traveling expenses. Frances acknowledged all donations with a personal, handwritten note of thanks. Through her relentless efforts the money for the four projects was quickly raised.

A few months after Frances wired the money to Father Albert, she received a letter from him that simply said, “Come and see!” Frances approached Gardner, who had recently retired from his practice, and asked if he would like to accompany her to Haiti to see the new schools.

He turned her down, stating that he was no longer practicing medicine and really did not care to go back. As he was leaving to go play a round of golf with his friends, she asked what he thought about her traveling alone and he agreed that she could handle the trip without him. Later that day, after his round of golf, Gardner came back to the house, threw his hat on the bed, and said, “I really want to go with you.” To that, Frances responded, “I always knew God spoke to you on the golf course!”

The Landers made a “come and see” trip to Haiti and saw schools in operation and worship centers in the villages to serve the people. The budding education system was bringing hope to an impoverished people. But as Frances visited with Pere Albert outside one of the schools, a young Haitian girl approached the priest and asked a question.

Frances, noticing that the reply she received made the young girl turn away in despair, asked Pere Albert what the young girl had wanted. Pere Albert told her that the girl had asked to enroll in school and sadly he had to tell her there was no room.

Upon hearing this, Frances took her camera and asked the young girl to allow a picture of her to be taken and then took photos of many other children who longed to go to school, but for whom there was no room. When she arrived back to El Dorado, Frances used her typewriter and these photos to secure even more scholarships so that Pere Albert could say “yes” to these hungry children.

As time passed, Pere Albert planted more schools in the mountains. The Haiti Education Foundation ministry grew and groups from churches in the United States began to visit the mountains in Haiti. When missioners saw what great things were being accomplished through the “HEF” ministry, they went back to their home churches eager to do more to help educate the children.

Visitors saw first hand the desire of parents for their children to attend school. In most instances, one child from a family would be chosen to attend school because they would go home and teach their siblings and parents. Students were given Creole Bibles so that they could use these in their home to bring God’s Word to their whole family. As the families learned together, Christianity and church attendance grew as well.

THE VOODOO WITCH DOCTOR'S HOME WAS NEXT TO THE SCHOOL AND CHURCH

In the village of Cherident, the Voodoo witch doctor’s home was located next to the school and church. Much to Frances’ amazement, she learned that the witch doctor’s young son was enrolled in the school. Just like all the rest, this youngster was given a Creole Bible to learn to read and to share with his family. Soon, the boy, his mother and siblings began attending worship services at Pere Albert’s church.

The witch doctor gradually began losing all of his business because so many of the villagers converted to Christianity and no longer needed his services. He decided to move into another area that had not been reached by Pere Albert and the Christian faith.

Before leaving, the witch doctor asked Pere Albert if he would watch over his family in his absence. Over the next several years, with the spread of Christianity, along with the planting of additional HEF schools, more families turned from the darkness of ignorance and belief in Voodoo to the light of Christianity. The practice of Voodoo disappeared from the areas served by the church and “HEF”.

In developing a program for the children, Frances and Pere Albert knew that it was important to meet the children’s needs through education, faith and nutrition. Many of the schools provide one meal daily, often the only food a child will receive.

Frances often recalls the first time she saw the feeding program in operation. She noticed a gathering of people outside the area where the children ate their meals.

After eating a small portion from the plate of food, she noticed some of the children passing their plates over the wall to waiting family members. She candidly saw that the work of the Haiti Education Foundation was reaching outside of the realms of her highest expectations.

A milk program has also been instituted, providing a glass of milk each morning to children in kindergarten through second grade.

Recently a medical team visiting the clinic in Cherident commented that it is easy to spot children enrolled in HEF schools because of their overall health condition. This past year, a mission addressed the need for purified water in some of the mountain villages.

Contaminated water supplies pose serious health issues to the people.

Children miss school often due to dysentery and other water related illnesses. Hope for a brighter future has dawned with the arrival of water purification systems that “Living Waters” ministry provides. These projects are installed by men from the villages who are trained by the “Living Waters” team. Daily operation of the facility is handled by paid employees from the village. The villagers are instructed in the benefits of purified water and proper handling and maintenance of their water containers.

Over the years, churches and individuals have given generously to construct permanent buildings for the children to attend school.

THIS TRIP TO HAITI GIFTED ME WITH PERMANENT, POSITIVE AND IMPACTING LIFE CHANGE

The following, an article from the organization’s November 2007 newsletter, Haiti Happenings, captures the importance of these buildings, not only as a place of education and worship, but the pride of a community in constructing something that will impact them for generations.

As I vividly recall my first visit to the village of Sorel to visit the Incarnation School, I think of our arrival up a very bumpy road of twists and turns as we travel from one mountain to the next. Finally, the truck slowed and Ancy, our driver, pointed to a distant building perched on top of the next mountain. We travelled slowly on a narrowing steep trail that gradually led us to a magnificent sight.

Children and adults, having heard the hum of vehicles headed up the mountain and are waiting to greet us as we pull up to the school, were anxiously awaiting our arrival. Many expected that Pere Irnel has come to check on the progress of the school and the preparedness of the principal assigned to oversee the many students who would be starting to school in the new building. Needless to say, they were surprised to see a group of visitors in his company.

We were all greeted and shown around the new eight-room facility. The view from the school yard is breathtaking as it looks out across the many surrounding mountains. Pere Irnel stopped to talk to three men who had come to welcome us.

He explained to us that these men had played a vital role in the building of the school. They, along with other men from the village, had carried all the sand used to construct the school up the mountain – a one-way distance of two kilometers.

The truck drivers who normally bring the materials, refused to navigate the treacherous mountain road to this remote location. Pere Irnel explained that these villagers never dreamed that they would be able to have such a nice school and that they say this school is so much more than a place for their children to be educated. It is a reminder of love, God’s love.

As we drove away from Incarnation School, I pondered the impact of what I had seen and heard. The very things that I, and we in our first world countries, take for granted in life – school buildings, education for our children – represent something very different to the people of Haiti.

Just as those villagers committed themselves to hand carrying vast amounts of sand up the mountain to construct the school, so I too determine my own commitment to give of my time and energy to see that God’s children in St. Matthias and Ascension parishes have the opportunity to go to school and have the opportunity for a future through education.

And, I realize to when other see of this and hear of this that they too will pick up their 'load of sand', in whatever form that can be, and will walk with all of us who are committed to saving the children of Haiti through education and other forms of assistance. It is only through a together-effort that a difference can be truly made. And so this trip to Haiti gifted me with permanent, positive and impacting life change.

Frances’ main concern for the people of Haiti is to provide a quality education for the students. Her goal is to secure an annual scholarship for each student. Education is truly the way to break through the dark curtain of poverty and ignorance into the light of knowledge and achievement. The people in the villages eagerly anticipate the arrival of visiting teams from the United States. This is a time of building relationships and seeing what 24 cents a day can do to change the lives of the many Haitian children.

Today, the Haiti Education Foundation supports 40 elementary schools and 10 high schools, educating over 10,000 students in St. Matthias and Ascension Parishes in Haiti. Thirty “HEF” sponsored students are now attending college in Port au Prince.

This organization not only educates Haiti’s children, but also builds school and church buildings. A whole economy has been created where moms and dads are hired to be part of the construction team. “HEF” only hires Haitian teachers and principals. This builds pride in the villages and helps develop the church as a focal point of the community.

You might wonder how all of this has been accomplished. It is Frances’ personal touch and the guarantee that 100% of everything donated is sent as designated to Haiti. Frances spends several hours every day answering emails and writing letters to donors. Her tireless efforts encourage us all to press on and use the gifts God has given.

Volunteers spread the news of this mission organization through speaking engagements in their local churches. Many volunteers have visited the mountain schools and have taken on projects to give “not a hand out, but a hand up” to the people in the villages.

Donors from all over the United States continue to give generously to this life changing mission. What lies ahead?

Frances wants her work to continue through her HEF volunteer staff which is made up of volunteers of all denominations.

And, there are still many Haitian children waiting for their opportunity to go to school. Amazingly, the cost for school, shoes, uniform, milk lunch, textbooks and a Creole Bible is $91.00 a year, which is only 24 cents a day, to make sure a student is fed and to salvage a young life through education.

In 2005, Pere Albert passed away. His successors, Father Jean Alphonse and Father Duveaux Irnel, anxiously await Frances’ arrival in Haiti on April 28th, 2008.

In twelve years much has changed in the villages throughout the mountains of Haiti as now both adults and children wake up daily with a sense of HOPE and PURPOSE, in large part because Frances Lander made the words of 1 John 3:18, “…let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth” her doctrine of life, and Haiti the land of her heart.

This mission will continue to grow through the generosity of other who will help spread hope and good will to our neighbors in Haiti. If you want to learn more of this mission of HOPE, please visit our web site.

Author: Susan Turbeville grew up in El Dorado, AR. As an teenage attendee of the First Presbyterian Church there she listened as Frances and Gardner Landers described their adventures in Haiti, and volunteered to help raise money and prepare supplies for their missions with other youth group members. As the focus of the mission changed from medical to education, Susan's interest grew. In 2001, Frances decided that the services of an assistant would be very helpful to the organization and Susan jumped at the opportunity to be a part of the blossoming Haiti Education Foundation. Frances and Susan have since enjoyed a great working relationship and an even greater friendship.

For more information about the Haiti Education Foundation

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