Quixote Center’s work in Haiti prioritizes systemic change. Our theory of change has three aspects:
Quixote Center initially launched Haiti Reborn in 1991 during a period of renewal in Haiti, following the election of Aristide and the rise of Lavalas, a popular movement for democratic reform. The coup that ousted Aristide later that year led us to focus our efforts on speaking out against United States intervention in Haiti. US foreign policy as well as development aid still has enormous influence over Haiti and its future. US NGOs and churches also funnel significant funds into Haiti, leading many Haitians to dub their country “the republic of NGOs.”
The Quixote Center partners with Haitian organizations to support smallholder farmers to build sustainable livelihoods from agriculture and reforestation. The Jean Marie Vincent Formation Center located in Grepen, Haiti, is our primary partner in the north while in the south DCCH, the Christian Community Development in Haiti is our main partner in Gouin, Les Cayes.
The Jean Marie Vincent Formation Center houses a tree nursery, a model instructional garden and multiple classrooms. These resources help farmers increase the yields of their farms, find new markets for their products, and gain access to the seeds and technology they need to succeed. The agronomy team from the JMV Center travel throughout the Arrondissement of Gros Morne to deliver workshops organized with a network of small farm associations, the Catholic Church’s Caritas network, and local schools. With our support, the JMV Center also maintains the Tet Mon model forest, a reforestation project that is the only one of its kind in the region. The JMV team holds formation sessions on reforestation and tree maintenance for local leaders, schoolchildren, and agronomy students.
The Social and Economic Recovery Program was launched in January 2025 as a scalable and replicable pilot project working with 100 rural families reaching up to 1000 people. These participating families are the protagonists of this program that aims to improve their income and food security while building resilience and eliminating dependence on outside assistance. Based on a 2023 community study, the project provides targeted investments in agroecological training, animal care, women empowerment through microloans and small business ventures. After collecting baseline data, the program will be tracking progress with the goal to increase household income by 20%, school attendance by 60%, crop yields by 60% and trade diversification among women.
Read the most recent report from our partners HERE.
In April, our partners at LaChandler Parish in Gros Morne reached out to Quixote Center to ask for emergency assistance to respond to an influx of displaced persons and deported migrants. Deportation flights to Haiti from the United States resumed in April 2024 and continue to this day.
The humanitarian situation in Haiti continues to worsen as its people suffer from a crisis of violence and hunger, fueled by weapons and ammunition trafficked from the US. Due to the rescission of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians set to take place in August 2025, many more Haitians who are in the US legally are at risk of being deported back to Haiti which does not have the infrastructure or resources to resettle them.
On May 2 the United States Department of State designated Haiti’s most powerful gangs, the Viv Ansanm gang coalition and the Gran Grif gang, as foreign terrorist organizations and “specially designated global terrorists.” Gran Grif is the most powerful gang in the Artibonite department, which is the location of the commune of Gros Morne and Quixote Center’s long term partners.
Our partners with the Haitian Christian Community Development (DCCH) have many years of experience in implementing economic development programs in Haiti. They know better than anyone the pitfalls of poorly implemented projects that create a state of dependency rather than empowering the local communities to sustain their livelihoods and build a dignified life.
More than half of the people in Haiti are facing severe hunger, with at least 8,000, specifically among those displaced and living in tent camps, facing starvation. Gang violence killed 5600 people in 2024, with more than one million people displaced. The violence, death, hunger and displacement are a result of weak U.S. gun laws and weak enforcement that enriches manufacturers and dealers and enables illegal gun trafficking across the Caribbean.
Gang Violence, TPS, and Advocacy
In February, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rescinded the extended designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti, ending legal protections for Haitians with TPS living in the United States on August 3, 2025.
Stay strong. It will be a tough few years.
We reaffirm our commitment to support and promote the rights and dignity of people on the move, as well as migrants already seeking a new life in our country. We reaffirm the humanity and dignity of LGBTQ persons and offer our love. We stand behind Bishop Budde’s plea for compassion and mercy toward the most vulnerable.
The liberation of our continent means more than overcoming economic, social, and political dependence. It means, in a deeper sense, to see the becoming of humankind as a process of human emancipation in history. It is to see humanity in search of a qualitatively different society in which it will be free from all servitude, in which it will be the artisan of its own destiny. It is to seek the building up of a new humanity… Gustavo Gutierrez
With all that’s going on in the past few weeks, you may have missed the news from Haiti. Criminal gangs shot at a couple of airliners flying into and out of Haiti, injuring at least one person and leading the FAA to ban U.S. airlines from flying into Haiti for 30 days.
This report comes from Sr. Pat Dillon, RJM, a Quixote Center partner in Gros Morne, Haiti.
