Haiti Facts!

I want to share with you all some Haiti facts!

Haiti Facts:

~Eighty percent of Haitians live under the poverty line and 54% live in abject (hopeless) poverty.

  The average per capita income in Haiti is $480 a year, compared to $33,550 in the United States.

This is crazy to think about! If you take $33,550 and divide it by 12 months, that means an American who makes $33,550 a year brings home about $2,795 A MONTH!! A MONTH!! Haitians bring home $480 (if they even make that much) A YEAR!!! A YEAR!!! That means that they would bring home $40 a month! However, this is not the income I have seen in the community I have been working in. One of the dads in the community is a motorcycle driver, and on a good week he brings home $7 FOR THE WEEK! That is $28 a MONTH!! This just blows my mind how much poverty is in this country. This statistic just breaks my heart! In America we have a welfare system that gives money to those in need, but in Haiti their government does not help the people in anyway. We have the gift of free public education, but if a child here has the opportunity to go to school it comes at a cost. Most of the schools cost around $300, so if the annual YEARLY income is $480 and they send one child to school (according to statistics a typical Haitian family will have 5 children, but most people I have met have 2 or 3) they are left with around $180 for the rest of the YEAR! How many of us could live off of $180 for the year?? None of us could, but somehow these people have made it happen. I’m sure you are thinking, yeah Ashley, but their cost of living is so much lower than ours. And in some cases you are right, rent for a two bedroom cinder block house is only $150 for the year whereas houses in America rent for thousands a month, but you also have RUNNING WATER, you have HOT WATER, you have ELECTRICITY, you have a REFRIGERATOR AND A FREEZER, you have a STOVE to cook on, and so many other appliances!! I don’t share all of this with you to feel sorry for these people because they are probably the most loving and joyful people I have ever met!! I say all of this, so you can understand the truth about Haiti’s poverty!

~A typical worker in Haiti makes only $2.75 a day. Because jobs are so scarce (approximately 70% do not have regular jobs), those who do have jobs are afraid to speak out against unfair labor practices

This fact should make us all grateful for living in America! We have the opportunity most times to speak out against unfair labor practices. Plus, no one makes only $2.75 an hour! And this statistic is not necessarily true for the community I have been working with….most of the moms make less than $1 a day if they even make that because jobs are so scarce! Most women sell things in the market, and that is where the hard part comes. The moms I have been working with have to figure out where to sell that will bring in a good income for the day, and what to sell because you don’t want to steal someone else’s business by selling the same thing. So it is definitely a rough process trying to find work! Please be praying for these moms to find opportunities to work, so they can provide for their families!

~Only 53% of Haitians can read and write

This fact breaks my heart! This is why I want so badly for the Empowering Haitian Moms kids to go to school! I want them to be able to read and write! I want these kids to receive an education, so they can find jobs that will provide for them and their future families. I want these kids to get out of the cycle of poverty! Granted, they will never know an American salary unless God wills them to go to America, but they can be educated and find a steady job that will provide them money enough for the basic necessities for living! I don’t want any of this new generation in Haiti to have to struggle to keep their home and to feed their family. I know God has BIG plans for each life in Haiti!!

~Only about 10% of all Haitian children enrolled in elementary school go on to a high school.

This is so sad, but it is so true. I have experienced it firsthand. One of the moms in the ministry is 23 years old, and she had to quit school after the 3^rd grade when she was 10 years old because her family could not afford to send her to school. So, she has not been in school for 13 years, and she only has a 3^rd grade education. It is so sad, but this happens all over this country. It’s just so hard to see the struggle this country has. You know these parents want the best for their children…they want to see their children make something of themselves, but they can’t afford it. They work their butts off, but all that gets them is MAYBE food on the table one meal a day which is NOT the case most times. Some of the kids in the ministry go a few days without eating anything because their family cannot afford it. And then we wonder why only 53% can read and write…it’s because families are having to choose between education or feeding their children. Of course they are going to choose to feed their family (I would too)!

~Throughout the mid and late twentieth centuries, Haiti experienced a “brain drain” as educated professionals and business people left the nation to escape brutal dictators. This exodus weakened Haiti because it was left with fewer and fewer skilled workers to run businesses, health centers, government offices, and schools.

~Families who live in the country spend almost 60% of their income on food. The poorest groups spend more than 70%.

~Only about 40% of school-aged children attend school regularly.

Again, I share all of this with you not for you to feel sorry and to offer a handout, but so that you will truly see the poverty that these people live in. I know a lot of times we may think “oh, they could get out of poverty if they choose” However, being here has opened my eyes to see that Haiti’s poverty is NOT something to easily overcome. The change is going to take YEARS because of the corruption of previous leaders. Pray for this new president to really LOVE his people, and to try every which way to TAKE CARE of them! Be thankful and praise God that we live in a country that helps us out! Praise God we have so much, but yet what do we do with the much that God has blessed us with? This mission trip has really opened my eyes to how much God has given me, but it has really made me think what am I doing with it? Am I blessing God with what He has given me? Am I being a blessing to others because God has blessed me? We don’t have to give monetary donations to one another to be a blessing. Simply taking the time to listen to someone or helping someone out is being a blessing!

Continue to pray for this next generation in Haiti! Pray that God would raise up Godly leaders to turn this country around! Pray that more children would be educated so they can change their country! Pray for our community of children in Empowering Haitian Moms! Pray for their futures that God has planned for them!

Thank you all for bearing with me through this LONG blog, but the poverty and lack of education in Haiti has been burdening my heart!

Blessings and Love!

Ashley