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Haitian school staff and leaders gathered together in the mountains of southern Haiti

Built by Haitians.
And Led by Haitians.

In the mountains of southern Haiti, this ministry has never been about American leadership. It was built, from the start, to belong to the people who live there.

The Haitian-Led Model
The single most important decision in the history of this ministry was made before most of its current leaders were involved: build something that Haitians own, Haitians lead, and Haitians sustain.

That decision has held for more than three decades. Five Episcopal priests, called to their own mountains, oversee the parishes where HEF’s schools stand. Every teacher, every classroom, and every vulnerable child and family in those parishes is known by name, not by file number, because the people equipping them live there too.

The Parish Structure

Five priests. Five mountain parishes. One shared calling.

Five Episcopal priests serve the mountain parishes where HEF’s schools stand. Each one carries the same sacred trust in his own community.

Knows Every School

Each priest knows every school in his parish, by name and by need.

Recruits the Teachers

Every teacher is recruited, trained, and supervised by the priest who serves that community.

Supervises Instruction

Daily instruction is overseen locally, in the parish, not from an office thousands of miles away.

Preaches in Creole

The gospel is preached in Creole, in the language and the voice of the people it is meant for.

Walks With Every Family

Each priest knows the families in his parish, not as case files, but as neighbors he serves alongside.

A group of school staff and adults in blue and white uniforms stand together at the school

School staff serving in one of HEF’s mountain parishes.

A teacher instructs a classroom of students in blue uniforms at their desks

A teacher leads instruction in a parish classroom.

Faithful Presence, Counted in Years

A staff that has never stopped showing up

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Haitian employees, steadying the mission

Through earthquakes, hurricanes, pandemics, and gang violence, 650 Haitian men and women have kept HEF’s schools open and the mission alive. They have never stopped showing up.

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Roughly 100 of HEF’s 650 Haitian employees have served this ministry for more than three decades.
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Haitian government teachers often go months without pay. HEF’s staff are paid reliably twelve months a year, plus a thirteenth-month bonus.
Three young women in school uniforms stand together in a school library

The next generation is already here.

Faithful Continuity

When both founders were gone within the same year, the mission did not stop.

Père Albert and Francis Landers, the two men who founded this ministry, both died in 2010. Susan Turbeville has led this ministry since 2010, carrying the same sacred trust into a new season.

No single leader, Haitian or American, has ever held this ministry together alone. When American leadership had to change hands in a single year, Haitian priests who had never left their parishes kept every school open alongside her. Continuity came from the model itself as much as from any one person.

Join the Team on the Ground

Stand behind the people already doing the work.

When you give, you are not funding an American office. You are stewarding a gift that reaches five Haitian priests, 650 Haitian employees, and the Hope of Christ they carry into the mountains of southern Haiti every day.