Haiti is part of the island of Hispaniola, between Cuba and Puerto Rico. (I was quite surprised by this – I still think Puerto Rico is somewhere around New York!) Haiti takes up about a third of the Island while the Dominical Republic the other. The country looks like a "mitt" of your right hand, with the mountains where your knuckles are, and a long isthmus where your thumb is. The heel of your mitt is the river (and earthquake fault line) that separates the two countries. The mountains of Haiti are in the mitt, with the highest being over 6,200 feet. Haiti is about the size of Maryland (whoever knows the size of Maryland, hold up your mitt). The population of about 9.3 million is the poorest in the Americas and ranks 142nd out of the 153 countries rated in the world. Over 50% of the population is under 20, four out of five live in poverty and 50% live in abject poverty. About 62% live without running water or power. Diseases are rampant, with the latest news being that the government is blaming the UN peacekeepers for the Cholera epidemic. It is estimated that approximately 80% of the children have no vaccinations at all. Most of the children we will be treating are malnourished and have parasites that rob them of whatever nutrients they can get. Fungal diseases are rampant along with most other childhood diseases that when unchecked, become life threatening.
REASONS for most Haitian problems
Quite surpassingly for me, the major reason is deforestation. It is estimated that 90% of Haiti's lumber has been cut down for cooking fire purposes! There has been a 200 year history of corrupt and inept governments keeping all of the resources for the few, and paying little attention to anyone outside of the major cities (70% live outside the three major cities). There is a slum in Port-au-Prince that has over 500,000 residents. Therefore, there has been complete anarchy outside of the major cities, with no utilities of any measure. Electricity is spotty also. When people have no gas or propane, their only way to cook is external fires and you can imagine what over one million fires daily require of wood stock – not to mention the smoke mixing with the dusty air. The deforestation then means that there is no way to hold the water when it rains in the hilly countryside and mountains, and it washes away the topsoil, leaving just the rocky terrain. Farming is very limited because of the lack of topsoil and modern farming techniques, and the people subsist on what they can grow in small plots or purchase. Building materials are also affected by the complete lack of lumber. Almost all of the homes – other than the rich – are built out of handmade blocks made of crushed stone, and mortar. Because of the totally corrupt political/hierarchal history of Haiti, the island of Hispaniola is brown on the Haiti side and green and jungles on the Dominican side. What a mess!
The earthquake of 2010 brought more misery for the Haitian people. The stories of the slums that were built on the side of mountains in Port-Au-Prince sliding down the hillside into a pile of debris, dust, and bodies, is an unforgettable mental picture While it is very difficult to read about what has really happened to the over $5 billion that foreign countries promised. (over $53,000 per resident), The US, Canada, China, and Russia have been very generous in their aid. Presidents Clinton and Bush have been very active in helping the recovery , and their mantra has been "make it better", thus trying not just to give money, but to change the patterns that have led to such miseries come very slowly.
I will endeavor to see and listen to what the residents think has been done on their behalf.
