Piton as a refuge

Katherine Harrison

March 12, 2023

Families flee Port-au-Prince to the safety of Piton

The violence in Haiti seems to reach new peaks every week. Port-au-Prince is a particularly hot spot. In recent weeks, about 25 families have fled PAP and ended up on Piton mountain in either the Piton or Piton West villages. The community has welcomed these families and are doing what they can to provide resources and a place to live to these refugees.

One particular family consists of a blind parent and 5 children, one of whom is disabled. The community is working to provide them with a home utilizing materials at hand, without asking us for assistance.

As a result of this influx, we have about 30 new children attending the community schools in Piton and Piton West. They need supplies to enable them to learn alongside the other children.

We need to raise about $2,000 to help accommodate these extra students.

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On a personal note, Piton has long been a refuge for me. When there in person, it's like a homecoming. The peace of the village and its inhabitants is refreshing. When circumstances keep me in the U.S. from my own bad health to Haiti's political upheaval, it's Piton that keeps me motivated. In fact, when my health has been particularly bad, it's Piton that has gotten me out of bed some days I'd have rather stayed under the covers. That's because the ethos of the villages of Piton and Piton West is one of collaboration, progress, and Christian love.

As Americans, we see our Piton friends as being less fortunate than we. Do you ever think of them as being something beyond the recipients of charity? How about the givers of charity? This ethos of collaboration, progress, and Christian love is what has welcomed families from Port-au-Prince.

Let's help Piton/Piton West be a safe haven to others in Haiti, a place where violence-weary families can go to live in relative peace and provide education and food for their children.

Scroll down for a few photos.

Medication Needs

There has been a flare up of cholera on Piton mountain and Samuel is working to educate and raise awareness. To do this, he needs sanitation supplies. General medical needs have also increased in recent months, as well as the costs of medications.

We usually spend around $1000 every 4 months or so to keep the clinic stocked with basic medications. Currently, we are in cold/flu season with cholera and COVID thrown into the mix. We are refreshing our stock every couple months lately.

I'd like to raise $1,000 specifically for medications and sanitation supplies.

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Vulnerable children in need of support

Your support of our clinic helps them keep their children healthy

The community comes together to build shelter for families leaving Port-au-Prince

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P is for Protected

By Katherine Harrison • July 27, 2026

Casual observers of the Temporary Protected Status crisis for Haitians and other nationality groups, including a senator from Ohio, enjoy saying "the T stands for temporary," as though we aren't aware. To emphasize only that T is for Temporary and ignoring that P is for Protected is short-sighted, self-serving, and completely misses the main point of the program. These are people who are fleeing situations in their home country that you nor I can imagine. They flee, learn another language, another currency, another culture, AND attempt to make a living to support their families in the US and sometimes their home country. Another detail people tend to ignore is that the TPS program itself does not offer a path to citizenship or residency. No, that is a completely different maze of departments, rules, costs, and attorneys that an already-intimidated immigrant must navigate. And while navigating, they are easy targets for bad advice or worse, scam artists looking for easy money. Yet another detail glossed over is this: TPS beneficiaries are held to the same legal standards as everyone else. TPS absolutely does NOT protect against criminal behavior. They risk deportation as a consequence of breaking the law. Today's ending of TPS for Haitians is so egregiously against our country's stated ideals of Refuge and Opportunity: Welcoming people seeking freedom, safety, and a better life. Haitians are being told to return to their home country where they will certainly encounter one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises that is being fueled by gangs using guns FROM THE USA. Yes, it’s been a long while since Haiti was granted TPS status in 2010. In hindsight, the status maybe could have been revoked some years later. But what to do when the country has devolved into its worst state since 2010? Apparently, this Christian country says, “sorry; temporary.” Keep in mind: Our own State Department says "Do Not Travel to Haiti," providing warnings with such strong language as "murders, kidnappings, robberies, assaults, sexual assault...." yet the country is deemed safe enough for the return of 350,000 Haitian bodies. Our own FAA has banned all flights to Port-au-Prince. To deport, the government will have to use charter aircraft, or military aircraft. Note: when the US government sent flights back to Guatemala recently, the cost to the US taxpayer was $8,000 per deportee. Multiply that by 350,000 Haitian TPS holders: $2.8 million of taxpayer dollars. TPS beneficiaries are providing valuable services to U.S. society and contributing to our economy; they are paying taxes into the US economy and will NOT receive any benefits back from the government (Soc. Sec., unemployment, Medicare); their reward is being in America. The lives of Haitian TPS beneficiaries will certainly be endangered by their return. They will be targeted by gangs for the simple fact they had the courage and means to leave the country in the first place. And since the US government has announced that deportees will have a certain amount of US Dollars in their possession upon deportation, lives will be lost on the off chance that money can be taken. The entire country of Haiti is beyond her breaking point; sending hundreds of thousands of souls back there will further stress and destabilize the country.

Public Latrine Construction 2026

By Katherine Harrison • July 5, 2026

Thanks to the support of a generous and practical-minded supporter, we built our first public latrine in July 2026! It is situated between the two villages we serve, Piton & Piton West, on the footpath used by the local villagers, and those coming from further away. Activities in Piton have increased greatly. The population has more than doubled due to the arrival of refugees from the Port-au-Prince area and villages in between. More people visit these two mountain top villages now more than ever, and the need for a public latrine is urgent for the sake of sanitation. This post will be updated with photos as construction continues.