Awareness

Special Project - Educate! Haiti: The Situation in Haiti
by Andrea Samuelson

Haiti is considered to be the poorest nation in the western world, the second poorest on earth. 81% of the population (8 million) earns less than a dollar a day and 85% live in abject poverty. Having a job is a good fortune when compared to Haiti’s 70% unemployment rate. Today, Haiti is in decline. One UN official reported that some areas of Haiti’s capital are confronted with a more pressing situation than that facing people in the Darfur region of Sudan. Children have suffered the most.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Haiti is the third hungriest nation after Somalia and Afghanistan. Due to poverty, malnutrition, disease and now violence, Haiti has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world. Half of the deaths in Haiti are of children under the age of five. Each year over 137,000 children between the ages of 0 and 5 years die from infectious diseases and malnutrition and 60% of those who survive do not grow and develop as they should.

With the ousting of President Aristide in February 2004 by American forces, schools and hospitals became the targets of violence and looting and were consequently closed for several months, bringing the country to a standstill. As a result, the number of street children in Port au Prince has risen above 2,000 in 2004 and 120,000 young girls are currently “employed” as domestic servants.

An alternative to deepening poverty, children have taken up arms in return for monetary compensation and more importantly, authority and prestige. Recruited by armed gangs who are funded by Pro-Aristide organizations, children have become primary soldiers in the battle against residents, the interim government, aid workers, religious organizations, the United Nations, PNH, the Haitian Police force, and anyone who interferes with the workings of the gang, the Chimeres. Many have deserted their homes and now it is guns, not men, who occupy the homes.

Despite the importance Haitians place on education, it is a luxury only few can afford. In addition to school fees, uniforms, books, and supplies, there is an inherent danger in going to school which could cost a student his/her life. Based on the French educational system, only 65% of children who are of age to attend primary school actually do and less than 35% of those who enter will complete all six years. Only 20% of children will go on to secondary school (UNICEF). Currently, the economic instability and violence in the capital have caused these numbers to dramatically decrease.

As of yet, Haiti has received only a quarter of the aid necessary to meet the immediate needs of Haitian children in health, education, and protection. Haiti’s dead have been largely ignored. Often killed out of amusement, boredom, or coincidence, the international community has failed to take notice. The City Morgue population has increased so dramatically that mass burial sites have been erected hastily in an attempt to contain disease. Because there is a heavy fee to see the deceased bodies of loved ones, even death becomes an ambiguous fate.

With its upcoming elections in November, tensions are expected to mount on the island of Hispaniola, only an hour plane ride from the Florida coastline. The scarcity of birth certificates has limited voter registration and currently, less than half of the people who are eligible to vote have registered. The sanguine graffiti which is prevalent upon government offices, businesses and homes calls for the return of Aristide. Viv Aristide! A representative of the Lavalas party, Aristide is a likely candidate. Several anti-Aristide groups have attempted to ban the former leader from the ballot, but a legitimate candidacy is probable as there are no legal stipulations prohibiting Aristide from running. With the reign of terror that the Lavalas party has instilled through its Chimeres guerrilla organization, the attempt at democracy in Haiti has found its failure.