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Quixote Center Condemns Deportation Flight to Haiti

Yesterday, Friday September 6, the US government released yet another deportation flight to Cap Haitien, Haiti, sending Haitians back to a chaotic, violent situation where their lives are at risk. Deportations to Haiti are a disgrace. The Quixote Center calls on the Administration to end this practice and instead offer Haitians the opportunity to apply for asylum.

 

Update: Quixote Center's Haiti Work

It's no secret that the people of Haiti are facing extreme challenges. Quixote Center's approach is to persevere. Now is not the time to hold back our support. Now is the time to build for the future of the Haitian people.

Keeping the hopes and dreams of rural Haitians at the center, our focus in Gros Morne is food security, strengthening the JMV agricultural center, and improving household income. With Quixote Center support, our partners in Gros Morne continue to maintain a tree nursery and model garden at the JMV Center, where they propagate and distribute tree seedlings and produce. In the spring they harvested peppers and sold them locally, improving the financial stability of the center. They also continue to maintain the Tet Mon reforestation project. Our funds provide the security needed to prevent tree-cutting, and also support mowing, planting and other maintenance activities.

Their plantain program began two years ago and continues to thrive. Our partners report that the program is popular, so they maintain a calendar of requests for seedlings. The next round of plantings should be ready by the end of this month. The JMV Center sells the seedlings at less than what folks would have to pay elsewhere, but still at a profit to themselves. Plantains are a central part of the Haitian diet. The families who purchase seedlings will consume the plantains themselves and also sell them for income.

With our support, JMV is launching a new veterinary care program. They have a building and have purchased equipment, such as shelving, solar panels and coolers. They can purchase some medications in the region and are finalizing a contract with a supplier for the rest. They are conducting meetings with the surrounding communities and sending notices to zones farther away letting them know that the Gros Morne vet techs are ready to provide care to their animals! Farm animals are a "bank" for rural Haitians. As long as they are kept healthy, farm families breed and sell the animals for income.

And this month we launch a pilot of yet another new program, fish ponds. Fishing has collapsed in the Gros Morne region as a result of polluted rivers and archaic practices. People can purchase fish brought in from other areas at a weekly market, but the prices are high. With our support, the JMV Center will construct one fish pond for 1800 fish. The project will create 13 jobs during construction and 2 permanent jobs. Once the fish are mature, they will sell them at a profit and continue the cycle of breeding more fish. We will evaluate this project after 6 months and again after a year. If it meets the goal of improved food security and income for the JMV Center, we will look at establishing additional ponds.

A key component of our strategy in Haiti is working to influence US policies that impact the lives of regular Haitians. Weapons from the United States fuel the violence in Haiti. Indeed, the United States is providing arms to all of the actors in the conflict, whether legally or illegally. There will be no security in Haiti until the illegal flow of weapons to criminal gangs ends. Quixote Center was invited to a high-level State Department conversation this week on how to improve security in Haiti, where we presented a 6-point plan for addressing the issue of weapons trafficking through administrative action. And we have been leading an enormous organizing effort to support legislation that will make a difference. So far we have 41 co-sponsoring organizations and 180 people signed up to participate in our Lobby Day on September 26. It's not too late to sign up!
None of this work is possible without your support.

Thank you.

 

Stop Illegal Arms to Haiti
Advocacy Days

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See a full list of co-organizers HERE ([link removed])
Template Letter HERE ([link removed])
Call your representative HERE ([link removed])
Register HERE ([link removed])

 

Join our Solidarity Travel to Southern Mexico

From November 11th to 16th, 2024, join the Quixote Center and the Franciscan Network on Migration on our biannual Solidarity Travel as we examine first-hand the impact of U.S. policy on Mexico's southern border, and to meet with immigration rights advocates providing shelter and other services to migrants. Click on the Learn More button below for more information on how you can participate.

Learn more Click Here ([link removed])
To apply Click Here ([link removed])

Read reflections from previous trip participants
People Walk to America ([link removed])
Mexico is a Cemetery for Migrants ([link removed])
An Immigration Advocate on the Meaning of Solidarity ([link removed])
An Advocate's Reflection on the Quixote Center's Solidarity Trip ([link removed])
A Teacher's Reflections on the Quixote Center's Solidarity Trip ([link removed])

More information here ([link removed])

 

Artist Corner
Georges Auguste

Village Scene

Hommage a Claudel

Georges Auguste was born in Petit-Goave, Haiti. Auguste received minimal art training in his home town. He then became the night watchman at the Center d'Art in Port-au-Prince and began to create art with leftover materials. He continued to study art and his style evolved. His work often depicts everyday life from a "birds eye view."

You can see more of Auguste's work HERE ([link removed]).

Yellow Bird

Herder with Animals

 

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