Essay on Haiti: Lending Institutions, Health Care, and Human Capital

Haiti is a prime example of how human needs in one area of the world are interdependent with social conditions elsewhere in the world. Haiti, for most of its history has been overwhelmed with economic

Illness and disease along with poverty still plague Haiti today. The effort to try and recover from the most recent earthquake tragedy has Haitians concerned. The conditions that they have endured in the past just to survive are worse than the conditions brought on by the earthquake. Some Haitian natives feel the Government is moving a bit slow in cleaning up and getting

The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster is an inside look into the realities behind international aid and intervention. The book answers the question of whether or not international efforts in Haiti really benefited the nation in the long term. The book argues that the international community failed in their efforts to rebuild Haiti due to their mismatched military approaches, failed monetary pledges and how the how billions of dollars were ineffective, having served only short term needs instead of, rebuilding solid foundations and institutions that would serve as the first step toward sustainable development.

A majority of Haiti’s economy relies on foreign aid, with over half of its annual budget coming from outside sources. In 2010 a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti which inflicted $7.8 billion in damage which caused the GDP to contract by 5.4%. Foreign aid skyrocketed and about $13.5 billion in donations and pledges flooded in with 75% of them coming from donor nations and the other 25% coming from private charities or organizations. Even 5 years after the earthquake, the situation hasn’t improved. Haitians are still dependent on foreign donations to live. The heavy dependence on donations makes up for Haiti’s low participation in the global economy, which is also negative. Besides the foreign aid, Haiti exports very few products -- with annual exports that are about a third of Jamaica's exports. The United States, a country that has trade

However, in Haiti’s case, it is so entrenched in debt that the government has problems far beyond water and sanitation. In 2008, Haiti was $1.85 billion in debt to other countries, and that figure is only growing (Varma et al., 2008, p. 68). Additionally, countries that were helping reconstruct the physical water system and infrastructure, such as the United States, have been backing out because they know it is unlikely Haiti will repay them. Failed international involvement is a crucial side-effect of a government in disarray. Other nations do not trust Haiti and do not want to enter the scene of turmoil. Consequently, such a shortage of financial resources is harming multiple facets of Haitian lives. For example, the country does not even know how much water it requires for self-sufficiency because the government has not allocated funds to research and development (Stoa, 2015, p. 5). Moreover, water transportation is currently ineffective. The natural geographic location of individuals relative to the water supply puts the metropolitan areas at an advantage. Wealthier individuals have cisterns and can pay a premium for water whereas rural residing Haitians often travel on foot carrying their water in buckets (Varma et al., 2008, p. 70). However, developing more efficient water distribution procedures for the population at large is costly and requires funding the government cannot

As the most basic indicator of health, the life expectancy from birth in Haiti based on estimates by the World Health Organization is reported to be approximately fifty-five (55) years (although there are a variety of competing numbers provided by other sources). The infant mortality rate is approximately eight percent (8%) and the less than 5 years old mortality rate is over eleven percent (11.7%)

Haiti was once the first black independent republic in the world and the richest island in the Caribbean. Today Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest countries in the world. What could have happened to Haiti in almost two hundred years of history? The country experienced repeated civil war and foreign intervention. Haiti is not isolated from the international world. Thus, it was not out of concern for ordinary Haitians that the United States intervened in Haiti. It was out of concern for profit and stability within the United States' own backyard. The purpose of this paper is to show the negative aspect that the United States had played in the government of Haiti.

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

According to the Health Development Index, Haiti has the “poorest standards of living” (“Haiti”). Most live in huts and shelters. Many build on trash heaps, and their living environments are often highly unsanitary. Many family members live under the same roof in cramped quarters. They have “the worst health statistics in the

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,

At the same time, Haiti’s economy continued to struggle with debt service in the place of national development. Thus, Haiti’s economy by GDP stands at only $6.95 billion, compared to France’s $ 2.85 trillion. With such an impoverished history, the Haitian economy was not set for a healthy development from the beginning, as the reparations took up a considerable percentage of Haiti’s annual production (Wroughton, 2010).

Since Haiti is located between tectonic plates, it is prone to natural disasters. Natural disasters have forced the country farther into poverty due to the cost of damages. A good example is the earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010. The earthquake caused billions of dollars’ worth of damages. Haiti was already a very poor country before the disaster, but the earthquake forced people farther into poverty. The families of Haiti did not have insurance, resulting in many families left homeless. The first estimate for deaths caused by the earthquake was more than 250,000 and affected approximately 3,500,000 lives (Pallardy, 2016). The first shock measured a magnitude of 7.0 with two aftershocks that measured magnitudes of 5.9 and 5.5. The following few days consisted of multiple other aftershocks measuring 5.9. The most affected area was about 15

While, Haiti economy revolves around agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, minerals and gold there has been little economic growth and economic development to match the United States growth. This analogy is made with the United States of America, because Haiti was the second in the Americas after the United States to gain its independence. Payne and Nassar tell us in chapter six of Politics and culture in the developing world that the real challenge of economic development is in improving the quality of the peoples’ lives. This development occurs with economic growth.

Poverty, corruption, and poor access to education are the most serious disadvantages that Haiti faces. Two-thirds of the country depends on agriculture, consisting of mainly small-scale subsistence farming. This sector is high vulnerable to damage from natural disasters and the country’s widespread deforestation (which have caused periodic flooding). Additionally, Haiti suffers from high inflation, lack of investment,

An economic adviser to Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive is also quoted in the article, stating the idea that these Non-government organizations (NGOs) have irreversibly “infantized” the country, or in other words, made the country lack a sense of self sufficiency. Yet, the article does not any give positive information regarding the impact of this aid, proving only further evidence of discussing the issue through a limited debate. Notwithstanding, the article does recognize that relief efforts and aid did help millions of Haitians in the wake of extreme havoc, but wonders “whether the efforts of well-funded aid groups—some of which have been in Haiti for 50 years—can improve Haiti's long-term outlook is another matter”(Córdoba). The article is closed by describing the hospital’s slow progress, and inserts yet another subjective ideology: that the only way to save the hospital, along with the economy in Haiti, is to veer away from foreign aid. This discloses the reader to only one subjective view, a view that creates a negative connotation with sending