Poverty Is A Major Global Social Problem That Haiti

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

“Strength lies in differences, not in similarities “- Stephen R Covery. Living in two different countries is an experience that is likely to open anyone mind. One raised in a smaller country, then moved to a larger country mixed with multiple culture is an experience not to be taking for granted. Full of hardships. Yet, despite lacking in the modern luxuries that are readily available in the United States, they also live a vibrant life full of flavorful food, music, dance, ritual and celebration. There are many differences in the way Haitians live in Haiti versus in America, including school, work, transportation, and environment and while not all of these differences are negative, it is obvious that the great disparity of wealth between the

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

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

Poverty was an economic factor that greatly influenced how the earthquake affected the population. In Haiti, 80% of the population was under the poverty line. ⅔ of Labor force employees relied on agriculture and due to high unemployment levels, many did not have a job and the population owned an average of under $2 a day. During the earthquake, Haiti’s agricultural industries were destroyed, leaving most of the county unemployed and unable to produce its main exports. This further exacerbated the problem of poverty and left the population without resources, food and water.

Living on an island with two third world countries; the Dominican Republic and Haiti, I’ve seen firsthand the major differences between both of them. The Dominican Republic has evolved from a Spanish colony, while Haiti was originally French. Throughout the years, Haiti has become known for suffering from poverty, misery, and distress. Pauperism has become a huge issue for the Haitians and prosperity of the country as a whole due to a lack of health, education, and social services.

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.

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

In November 2015, I had the privilege of traveling to Haiti on a mission team. While in Haiti, I was awakened by how blessed I am as an American. There are numerous things that we all take for granted every day. The necessities like three meals a day, clean water, comfortable shelter, nice clothing, electricity, and plumbing are taken for granted. Americans who live in poverty receive benefits such as food stamps, government assisted housing, medical insurance provided by the government, and social security. On the other hand, Haitians are left with little to no support from their government.

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?

Haiti’s GDP(gross domestic profit) was at an all time high at $11.9 billion, but ever since the 7.0 magnitude earthquake during 2010, it has made the already struggling country less economically stable. This is due to the fact that many of it’s industrialized buildings were destroyed. Comparing the U.S and Haiti, many products such as a McDonald’s meal and water would cost $7.04 in Haiti while in the U.S it would cost $9.91. A standard living space (one bedroom/bathroom apartment) in Haiti’s capital ,Port-au-Prince would cost on average $957.45, while in the U.S generally it would cost $1,685.98. Basic utilities such as electricity, air conditioning, water and garbage collection would cost $86.67 in Haiti but $162.12 in America. Because of the extremely low stability in Haiti’s economy, many items would naturally be cheaper and easier to obtain than in an economically stable nation, such as the

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,