The Need & What Can Be Done
The Need in Haiti:
- In January of 2010, Port au Prince, the Capital of Haiti, was devastated by a monster earthquake that literally destroyed the city claiming over 230,000 lives.
- The poorest country in the Americas and the 3rd poorest country in the world, Most of Haiti’s 10 million people live on less than $2 a day.
- There is no food stamp program
- There are no Medicaid, Medicare or National Health Care programs
- There is no Social Security
- There are over 400,000 children without parents in Haiti.
- 1 out of 5 children will die before the age of five.
- Roughly three-quarters of Haitians are either unemployed or trying to make ends meet in the informal economy and 75% of Haiti’s people live in abject poverty.
Education:
- The enrollment rate for primary school in Haiti is 57%, and fewer than 30% of the students reach 6th grade.
- Secondary schools enroll 20% of eligible-age children.
- Haiti’s literacy rate is 52.9%.
- Haiti ranks 177th out of 186 in the world for national spending on education.
- The Government has advocated the creation of a free public and universal education system for all primary school-age students in Haiti, but there is no government funding program available now or appropriated in the near future to provide for free public education for all children in Haiti.
- International private schools (run by Canada, France, and the United States) and church-run schools educate 90% of students.
Despite the tremendous need, Haiti is an amazing country filled with beauty,
creativity and imagination unlike what some travel sites want you to believe.
Here is a video of a few local artisans and their art.
creativity and imagination unlike what some travel sites want you to believe.
Here is a video of a few local artisans and their art.