Saying Yes to Haiti

by Jim Luther 11,000 students in 28 schools in the mountainous Grande Collene region of Haiti – this is the living legacy of Frances Landers of the First Presbyterian Church of El Dorado, Arkansas and Pere (Father) Jean Wilfrid Albert, an Episcopal priest, from Cherident, Haiti. In 1977 while on a medical trip to Haiti with her husband, Gardner, an ophthalmologist, Frances Landers met Pere Albert and from that chance meeting grew the Haiti Education Foundation. 25 years later, Cherident and surrounding villages come alive each morning at sunrise with thousands of students on their way to schools, students who would have otherwise had little chance of ever getting an education.

On March 17, 2002, a hardy group of travelers who also make up most of the "Infrastructure Committee" of the Haiti Education Foundation departed for Haiti with the purpose of inspecting ongoing construction projects, evaluating the "computer lab", assessing the use of solar and wind power and visiting the Hospital St. Croix in Leogone with the purpose of setting up short-term medical mission trips. The members of the team were Jim Luther, chair of the CLPC Global Mission Committee, Bob Stinson, architect and partner in the Stinson Design Group, Dr.Laura Hawkins, pediatrician from Baytown (and good friend of CLPCers, Will & Alison Groten), Charles McCord who owns his own oil and gas production company, Fannie Tapper, a retired French professor from the University of Houston and David Grizzle, Senior VP for Corporate Development for Continental Airlines. All of the team members except Jim are members of St. John the Divine Episcopal Church in Houston.

Among the highlights of the trip was a visit by Laura and Jim to Hospital St. Croix. We received a two-hour tour from Rev. Victoria Yeghoyan, Presbyterian Mission Specialist, who coordinates the guesthouse visitor program. The hospital is unique in that it is owned by the Episcopal Church of Haiti and operates in partnership with the PC(USA) with much support from The Medical Benevolence Foundation, a Presbyterian organization based right here in Houston. Our purpose for the visit was to see how we can assemble teams of medical workers, get them to Haiti and back in a timely manner and to see how we can provide additional support to the hospital.

I personally would like to thank all of the CLPC members who have been such an encouragement in this venture including the children of Sunday School who contribute so much and especially Mary Jane Anderson and her team of Deacon "Prayer Warriors". From driving over treacherous mountain roads to fording rivers we never felt the slightest danger because we knew we were in God's hands.

If you would like to know more about Haiti and how you can become involved please contact Jim Luther or the other members of the Global Mission Committee: Sonia Cuclis, Monica Chaviers, Juan Guerra, Alan Haggard or Ian Sutton.

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