Breaking The Cycle Of Poverty In Haiti

“What is poverty? Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom” (The World Bank, 2009).

Haiti is one of the more indigent countries in the world; the country also holds a low economic status. Over time Haiti’s economy grew gradually at around 2.3

Think about this, we live in our own little world where we waste food and money is sometimes just a piece of paper that we just throw around like its nothing. There are people in this world who need that food that we just throw away and that money we waste on stuff we will never use. The people in Haiti need food and water and jobs that can give them the money they need to raise their families. They wish everyday they could have even half of what we have. Haiti is a neighbor to the Dominican Republic, the population is about 9.2 million and is widely considered the poorest country in the western hemisphere. 80% of the population live below the poverty line. 54% live on less than $1.25 per day. Life expectancy is only 30 years and that is

The French and their slaves populated the island of Haiti during the 18th century. In the late 1700’s, the slaves revolted against the French and began a thirteen-year war for their freedom. This war began the significant problems for Haiti. Today, Haiti suffers from malnutrition, low standards of living, and poor literacy, which Haiti still faces today.

When I was able to go to Haiti for a mission trip with my church. I saw so many people on the street and they looked like they were living out of boxes. Port-Au-Prince, Haiti is one of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. They also have very bad healthcare. Not many of the people there were living the life we are. Most of them are living on about 2 dollars per day. There isn’t much we could buy in Zeeland for 2 dollars. When I would walk down the streets. I see people and kids almost wearing rags for clothes. As I would walk down the street to the market it would smell like rotten food that is 2 months old. Haiti had a earthquake in 2010 that took them down. Almost everything was destroyed. It didn’t help with their poverty stats at all.

Another struggle is that, this country has yet to develop educationally or scientifically to a national level. But women are not the only ones affected by this epidemic. The average working class makes close to $660 a year. Also, 78% of Haitians are poor (less than US$2 a day), and more than half (54%) live in extreme poverty (less than US$1 a day) ("Haiti Statistics - Haiti Partners."). The average family consists of (a) working parent(s) (most don’t have the luxury of both) and ranging from three to four children. An American couldn’t even afford a Mcdouble at McDonalds for one dollar, let alone feed six people for one to two meals.

The economics of Haiti has deceased in the last 4 years after the devastating earthquake that struck it 4 years ago. The Haiti economy has become very poor and one of the poorest country in the south, Central America and Caribbean region making it ranked 24 out of 29 countries in this area and its overall score is below average. Haiti’s economic freedom is 48.1 making it economy the 151st freest country while in the last several years Declines in the management of government spending, freedom from corruption, and labor freedom make its overall score 2.6 points lower than last year. Recovering from the disastrous earthquake in 2010 with the support of the U.S. recovering efforts “Haiti’s post-earthquake reconstruction efforts continue,

Poverty in Haiti is mainly due to the slave population brought in by the French for labor during its colonial rule (they accounted for a third of the whole Atlantic slave trade (1)). How is this so? Well, because

However, before diving deeper into Haiti’s current economic plight, it is necessary to first comprehend how economic well-being is derived. Economic well-being is certainly not easily reflected by one measurement, say GDP per

Most Haitians were slaves brought by the French. The slaves rebelled and in 1804 declared independence. In exchange of their freedom, they had to pay a 23 billion dollar debt. They were still paying the debt even after world war two. The pressure of paying off the debt kept Haiti from investing in building the country. The Haitians also have had no president since February, 2015. ``Corruption and violence caused the postponement of the election to October 9, but hurricane Matthews hit Haiti and the election was further postponed to November 20’’ says the junior scholastic . The scholastic further says, ``Not having a president can increase the government’s inability to provide basic services’’. The Haitians have to do something before Haiti becomes a failed

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Nearly 80 percent of the Haitian population live below the international poverty line of 2.00 a day. Poverty levels are also based on their literacy statistics. Around 47% of Haitians are illiterate (idvolunteers.org). This problem stems from there not being enough public schools to accommodate Haiti's children. For the children that can afford the funds, they attend private schools that cost between $100 and $200 a year. For the children in poverty, the fees are out of reach, so they are forced to not attend schools.

Starvation is a huge issue in Haiti. One child dies every six seconds from the scarce amounts of food here. Poverty in Haiti is the leading cause of the lacking amounts of food for children here. This picture saddens me to think that there are children in other places around the world dying from something that I wouldn't even think of dying from. Food is something so plentiful in America; it's so normal to come home from school or where ever I am during the day and have food available to me. In some countries, like Haiti, they are blessed to get a small portion of food a day. Some children there don't have access to food for weeks at a time. it's really sad to know that my own country; (America) has so much food and a lot of access to it, and we don't majorly help out Haiti. We have helped them out by sending food but that doesn't solve the problem of millions of people. How did Haiti become so poor?

For the most part, the interaction between the colonizers of Haiti—the Spanish and the French—was negative, and lastingly so. Haiti has remained a turbulent and impoverished landscape. Social and economic indicators remain doggedly low, year after year. Haiti, although technically independent as of 1804, has never been able to support itself. There is a lot of heartfelt sympathy for Haiti, and the hope is that the legacy of colonization is not unending fate. But it will take a lot of work to get Haiti to a place of true freedom and independence, and sometimes outside help, however well intentioned, only unwittingly fuels the legacy.

It’s safe to say that Haiti is poor. Especially compared to the U.S. One of the causes for Haiti being so poor just happens to be humans. They are entrenched in greed and power. The rulers there have ensured Haiti’s despair. Things like soil erosion, bad education system, illiteracy, unemployment, inadequate roads, water systems, sewerage, and medical services are also some of the causes of Haiti’s despair. The international community also has a lot to do with Haiti being so poor. But the main root of Haiti’s problems comes from their government. The rulers there have used beatings, killings, illegal arrests and detentions, forced exiles etc., all to keep

Haiti is described as the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Most people are not aware of Haiti's long history nor do they know the reasoning behind Haiti’s current state, when in fact, Haiti was once one of the richest countries in the western hemisphere. However, the international community has played a key role in continuously ensuring the destruction of Haiti's colonial wealth and creation and continuance of their suffering. “French colonialists brought hundreds of thousands of slaves from Africa, many of whom were literally worked to death. But in 1789, word of revolution in France made its way to the Caribbean colony” (Clemens, 2010).