Why help Haiti’s children?
The children of Haiti are no different than the children in America EXCEPT that Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas and the 3rd poorest country in the world. In Haiti there are no Food Stamps, Head Start, Medicaid, Medicare, Public Health Care, Aid to Families, Job Core, Emergency Food and Shelter Program or Public Housing. In America our government has over 70 programs to assist the poor.
Many children in our schools live in poorly made houses with dirt floors, no electricity, no bath rooms, and go to bed hungry many nights. This is why we feed them a healthy nutritious meal every school day. They are wonderful kids, smart, happy, polite, respectful and thankful for your help.
General Facts about 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, Majority of Haiti’s 10 million people live on less than $3 a day.
- 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 six.
- 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.
Educational Facts about Haiti
- 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 are primarily operated and funded by American and Canadian missions and churches and they educate 90% of the students.