Thank you for being here,
Trouble comes to our mountain
Katherine Harrison
June 13, 2023
Bandits have arrived
In our recent newsletter, I mentioned that Piton had welcomed families fleeing the violence in Port-au-Prince. They left everything behind, got out of town, and ended up in Piton. At first I knew of ten extra students in the Piton Community School. That number has increased to 31. Our clinic is busier than ever; not only from cholera outbreaks and cold/flu season, but because more people from other areas of the mountain are coming to our clinic. They don't want the risk of traveling to nearby Petit Goâve.
The political situation in Haiti has been deteriorating since 2019. The Haitian president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in July 2021, and the government has spiraled ever since. I've been asked many times how our village is doing in the face of all the violence and government upheaval. My answer has always been the same: sometimes it's good to live on a mountaintop in an agrarian community. Things that happen in the larger cities rarely affect the day-to-day life of villagers. They've been affected by occasional riots in other towns and roaring inflation, but not directly threatened.
Until now.
Now our friends have confirmed the presence of bandits on the mountain and in the nearest village to Piton. Just last night (12 June 23), there were five policemen patrolling in and around Piton. At least one person has been arrested. Samuel has been meeting with leaders of nearby villages and organizations to work together for protection. It will be an ongoing process that is happening right now as I type and will likely end up with us hiring security for the school.
I work to post calmly and give updates in ways that aren't overly emotional or alarmist. But at this moment I'm alarmed. Perhaps the arrival of gang members to our calm area of Haiti was inevitable? Makes it no less scary. The level and ferocity of the violence around the country has been astonishing. I've allowed myself a measure of a sense of security based solely on the isolated situation of our friends. I'm afraid that's not the case any longer.
Current Needs (will be updated):
- $1,200 for lighting repairs. Currently we are in need of repairing lights on the outside of the school. We use a solar panel/generator array that provides a small amount of light in the evenings. For security, Samuel is being advised to repair the lighting on the outside of the school and likely to add more. The ATI building we built in 2017-18 is just feet behind the school. If security is hired for the village, that person will likely be based in the ATI building.
- $1,100 for medication. As mentioned above, our clinic is serving more people than ever. We're covering Piton, Piton West, and now people from down the mountain are coming to the ATI clinic because they don't feel safe making the hour-long trip to nearby Petit Goâve. A majority of the problems presented to our clinic are minor issues and easy to treat. But we need medications; we are going through our supply faster than ever this year.
Aid to Infrastructure is blessed to have a core group of dedicated, engaged donors who respond quickly when I reach out for assistance. We are still here only by the grace of God and their generosity! Occasional donors, if you haven't given for a while, and you are able -- now is the time.
- If you are in the medical field, please consider giving towards medication and supplies. Below are photos of recent patients.
- If you're a monthly giver, can you increase your amount by 20%?
- If you're not a monthly giver, and are able to become one, please do. Monthly giving - on any level - adds to consistent revenue that we can depend on to keep things running smoothly.
Regardless, please keep our mountain and the whole country of Haiti in your prayers. The future is uncertain but we'll face it together.
Recent pictures from children seen in our clinic
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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.
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.
Three Things Email for 26 June 2026
**Note 7/17/2026: Scroll down to read the new bill to extend TPS and to see language for a letter to your senators!
US Department of State Travel Advisory to Haiti
Three Things Email for 19 June 2026
We all know how team sports provide powerful benefits for kids' mental health and behavior. Here's a few:
There's a lot happening in Piton this summer!
Three Things Email for 29 May 2026
Three Things Email for 22 May 2026
