Report from Samuel - March 2024

Katherine Harrison

June 24, 2024

Tags: 2024, Samuel's Reports, sponsorship, newsletters

Often in our newsletters we include a message from Samuel, discussing a particular program and/or expressing thanks to our supporters. His messages are important enough that they are posted in our blog. These reports are translated from Haitian Creole to English as close as possible to retain Samuel's voice. Due to translation, some of the syntax may read awkward to American eyes.

Report from Samuel included in the Spring 2024 Newsletter

The student sponsorship program is a very important program. The students who came from Port-Au-Prince due to insecurity problems where violence makes them leave the capital, come to Piton. They benefit from the support that helps them in school.

Children whose parents cannot help them get support money to help them with uniforms, shoes, book bags and class supplies. Students who have already benefited from the support, we see how they are progressing in their class work, this shows that it is a very good program.

Parents, students, teachers and members of the school management is very appreciative and we thank the supporters who are giving help to the students. There is good progress being made in the school because there are materials for them to learn in the classes. We are very happy for this program that supports the students in school there.

This program has already begun to make a good impact in the school because the students who were in difficulty at the beginning have class supplies to learn, shoes to put on their feet, uniforms, and book bags.

It is a blessing from God to send support by sponsors to help the students in the school. The students are very happy in the school.

Thank you very much. God bless Piton.

God bless all our supporters.

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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.