Pre-Trip Information

 

Haiti is one of the world's most densely populated countries. The population of about 8.8 million is youthful. According to an estimate by the Pan American Health Organization, about 15 percent of Haitians are children under five years of age, and another 25 percent are between age six and 14. The working-age population, 15 to 64 years old, represented 56 percent of Haitians, while the 65-and-over age group comprised a mere four percent.

Ethnically, about 95 percent of the Haitians are of African descent; the rest of the population is mostly of mixed African-European ancestry, along with a tiny fraction who are of European stock. In recent years, a small community of Arab immigrants has also developed in Haiti. Haitians of mixed African-European ancestry have generally formed the country's elite.

French is one of two official languages, but it is spoken by only about 10 percent of the people. All Haitians speak Creole, the country's other official language. Creole, French-based in origin, is one of the New World's hybrid linguistic formulations. English is increasingly spoken by the young and by business people. Culturally, Haiti blends African and French influences.

The state religion is Roman Catholicism, and most of the people profess it. However, a great many of them simultaneously practice voodoo, rooted in African spiritual beliefs. As in many cultures-examples come to mind in both Africa and Latin America, such as Cubans who practice both Catholicism and Santeria-religious syncretism is commonplace, so that Haitians tend to see no conflict in the same individual maintaining voodoo practices while adhering to a Christian faith. Particularly in recent years, Protestant missionaries active throughout the country have converted a small but growing percentage of Haitians to the denominations they represent.

 

 

Unfortunately, Haiti holds the dubious title of poorest nation in the Western hemisphere with a poverty rate of over 80 percent. Bearing out the inadequacy of Haiti's health and welfare conditions, and of its economic and environmental infrastructure, the country has a high infant mortality rate, approximately 63.83 deaths per 1,000 live births, and low life expectancy, variously estimated from 55 to 58 years of age.

About six percent of GDP is spent on health expenditures. Access to water is regarded as less than optimal and  there are additional challenges  in  rural areas.  Access to sanitation is poor and presents a serious challenge in this country, which is home to some of the worst living conditions in the Americas.

Haiti's educational status, like its health indicators, reflects the dire struggle with poverty that most of its people face. Although school attendance is compulsory for six elementary years, the actual enrollment rate for children between age six and age 11 is only about 73 percent. Of this group of enrollees, only about 63 percent typically complete primary scho ol. Further, only 20 percent of all children will even begin secondary education. Public education is free but not widely available, and private and parochial schools provide perhaps 75 percent of all educational programs offered. Simply put, although Haitians place a high value on education, many families cannot afford the school fees they need to pay in order to educate their children. As a result, Haiti's adult literacy rate is 52.9 percent, according to recent estimates; the United Nations Development Programme also recently estimated it at 47.8 percent.

 

Traditionally, the preponderance of Haitians were subsistence or very small-scale market farmers. Haiti is the most steeply and consistently mountainous area in the Caribbean. The highest point in the Caribbean is actually in the neighboring Dominican Republic, with which Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola, but the Dominican Republic also has extensive areas of relatively level, easily cultivable land, which Haiti lacks. Haiti's precipitous terrain, and the widespread need to cut trees for fuelwood, resulted in severe stress on the land and destructive erosion as long ago as the turn of the 20^th century. Since then, this pattern of environmental degradation has only intensified.

 

Although Haitians are still largely rural dwellers (70 percent of the people live in rural areas), the precarious viability of agriculture has induced a trend of urban migration. Those who settle in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and the handful of other cities find limited opportunity-at best, menial work for paltry wages, and an unemployment rate of 70 to 80 percent. Most urban residents survive by occasional odd jobs or by hawking snacks or other tiny items. Because of these bleak living conditions, many Haitians have immigrated to other parts of the world, particularly to the United States and secondarily Canada, as well as to other parts of the Caribbean. This large-scale exodus has created what Haitians refer to as the "Tenth Department," being the official designation for the country's nine geographic jurisdictions. The expression refers to the fact that literally one out of every six Haitians lives abroad.


Human Development