Brother Francklin Armand

“My God, thank you for what you are, what you do. We love you as you love us. Our lives and our spirits are in your hands.”

Brother Francklin Armand

Brother Francklin Armand was born in Port-au-Prince on September 16, 1947. From the age of three months, he was cared for by his godfather Fequiere Anglade, a former Captain of the Army who loved him and showered him with affection. At a young age, Franklin’s family was sure that he had been called by God. At the age of 17, he entered as a postulant to the Little Brothers of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. By the age of 28, he was promoted to Superior General of this Community. The eleven years spent in religious life aroused in him “a call within another call.” Brother Francklin met Charles de Foucauld through a retreat. Brother Charles was a former French Army officer who later became a Trappist, priest, hermit and nomad in the Sahara desert.The writings of Brother Charles inspired Francklin and affirmed strong convictions that he had felt for years. As a result, Brother Francklin began the process of ​​founding a religious community totally dedicated to the service of the poorest, among the poor in Haiti.

On December 26, 1976, with the permission of the Bishop of his Diocese, he and the first group of the Little Brothers of the Incarnation, opened their hearts and their doors to the people of the rural world at Dos Palais, in the Central Plateau of Haiti. Nine years later, with the partnership of Sister Emmanuelle Victor he founded the female branch of the Fraternity of the Incarnation: Little Sisters of the Incarnation.
The work of Brother Francklin, founder and former superior general of the Little Brothers and Little Sisters of the Incarnation is immense and includes 17 fraternities spanning 8 dioceses: the Central Plateau, the North- East, South-East, Grand-Anse, South, West, Artibonite and the Dominican Republic. The congregation manages 8 primary schools, 2 secondary schools, nearly 180 lakes throughout Haiti, several nutrition centers where more than 6,000 young people are fed every day, a radio station, a cyber café, a community store, a charcuterie, a fishmonger, a cafeteria, a craft shop, a hospital center, a beach on the Arcadins coast, a technical center in Pandiassou, Hinche, a school for agricultural entrepreneurs which welcomes 240 young people a year, a printing press, an agricultural shop, a bakery, the technical school of the foyer de l’Incarnation in Petite Place Cazeau, Port au Prince.

Several important written works and documentaries have appeared in Haiti, and abroad including: ”Standing Man”(1996), “God’s Peasant” (2010), a Marshall Plan for Haiti (2010) which shed light on the complex work of Brother Francklin and his community. Additionally, Brother Francklin has received many awards and honors including being decorated by the Presidency of the French Republic with the rank of Knight of the National Order and Merit (1998), National and Living Treasure (Haiti, 2008), Honor and Merit (Town Hall of Hinche, 2010) , Honor and Merit (Oganizasyon Plantè Bouloum, 2010), Human Rights Award (Officers and members of the Haiti solidarity Network of the Northeast, 2012) as well as many others.