The bridge across all of our programs is the desire to change United States policies that impact the people we work with. Extreme poverty and vulnerability in Haiti and Nicaragua lead families to make the heartbreaking decision to migrate, to the United States or elsewhere. Our priority is addressing the root causes of migration in Haiti and Nicaragua. At the same time, we believe that we must insist on fair policies in the United States that promote the dignity of migrants. Current priorities:

  • End Title 42 and Remain in Mexico, and secure asylum once again at our borders

  • Work in solidarity with migrants traveling in Central America and Mexico

  • Bring a social justice framework to the United States’ policies that impact our partners in Haiti and Nicaragua, with an emphasis on non-intervention.
     

Stolen Wages in Haiti

Last week the Workers Rights Consortium issued a report on garment factories in Haiti that sew for major U.S. brands. The report found:

…garment factory owners in Haiti routinely, and illegally, cheat workers of substantial portions of their pay, depriving them of any chance to free their families from lives of grueling poverty and frequent hunger.

Haiti Digest: October 11

This week a lawsuit on behalf of victims of the reintroduction of cholera to Haiti was filed in New York against the United Nations. The source of the infections has been traced to Nepalese peacekeepers whose camp sanitation facilities were inadequate. The camp bordered a tributary of the Arbonite river, Haiti's largest, and waste from infected peacekeepers spread the disease downstream.

The Power of Dreams: Reflections on the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

The articulation of visions of a new world into the language of dreams results from the inadequacy of dominant language/culture to otherwise give expression to these visions. Liberation theologist Leonardo Boff says of dreams, they claim the impossible in order to create more space for what is possible. They do so not by flights of fantasy, but taking the world as it is and then turning the dominant language back on itself.

August Cookout and Visit with Edwin Novoa

On Saturday August 14 we had a party to celebrate a visit from Edwin Novoa, Director of our long time partner organization, the Institute of John XXIII in Managua, Nicaragua. It was great to see some familiar faces and meet new Quixoteites who share a belief in impossible dreams.

In addition to good food and good people, it was also an opportunity to learn more about the 'Homes of Hope' the Quixote Center donors have supported in Nicaragua for over a decade.

Two Weeks in Nicaragua: FEDICAMP

On Monday morning I woke up around five to catch the earliest bus from Leon to Esteli. The ride takes approximately two hours on one of the smaller InterLocal buses, and I was fortunate enough to catch one with a mid day arrival.

My bus arrived at the terminal around 12:30. I texted Miguel Marin from FEDICAMP, and he came to pick me up about fifteen minutes later in his compact pickup. In the back was Felix, one of the community organizers/trainers/agronomists working with the communities affiliated with FEDICAMP.

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