Quixote Center works to defend the human rights and dignity of the most vulnerable by influencing U.S. foreign and immigration policies, through educating our supporters, allied organizations, and government officials, and through actions directed at specific policies. Extreme poverty and vulnerability lead families to make the heartbreaking decision to migrate, to the United States or elsewhere. Our policy priorities address the root causes of migration in Haiti, Nicaragua and across Latin America and the Caribbean. We also defend the rights of migrants in the United States and work toward safe and non-exploitative legal pathways that recognize the important role immigrants play in our society and economy.
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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.
The Worker Rights Consortium has released a new report that shows Haitian garment factory workers are routinely denied the minimum wage guaranteed by law: Scott Nova, the consortium’s executive director, said in an interview:
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.
[Original post, September 24, 2013, Updated September 26, 2013 - see below]
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. Dr.
Pope Francis made the following statement on Syria this past Sunday, September 1, 2013.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Hello!
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.
Back in April of this year the Obama administration proposed significant reform to the way the United States government delivers food aid around the world. The two key components of the reform:
Activists of Kouraj a group working for the rights of the Haitian lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, have been receiving threats related to their work. The threats seem to be related to a march against “homosexuality in Haiti”, scheduled for 26 July.
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
