Haitian Children's Home

FAQs

What is Haiti like?

Haiti is a very, very poor country. Haiti is the poorest, most economically unstable country in the Western Hemisphere.

Here are a few facts that might interest you:

• 80% of people in Haiti live in extreme poverty
• Life expectancy in Haiti is less than 50 years old
• 15% of ALL children in Haiti are either orphaned or abandoned.
• 7% of the children in Haiti are enslaved. They are as young as 3 years old. They often suffer sexual, emotional, physical abuse and possibly death.
• 10% of the child population in Haiti will die before the age of 4.
• The average Haitian family lives off of $1 US dollar a day.
• 30% of the Haitian population is either ill and/or underweight.
• Haiti is ruled by the wealthy. 1% of the population controls 40% of the wealth, where as 80% of Haitian families in the countryside live on less than $150 US dollars per year.

Where is Haiti?

Haiti is in the Caribbean, approximately 700 miles off the coast of Florida. It occupies the left third of the island of Hispaniola. (The other country on Hispaniola is the Dominican Republic.)

How big is Haiti?

Haiti is approximately the size of Maryland and holds about 8 million people.

What language do they speak in Haiti?

There are two official languages spoken in Haiti—French and Creole. However, only 15% of Haitians can speak French, while nearly 100% speak Creole.

What is the political situation in Haiti?

Haiti has always been a fairly politically turbulent place. However, most of the problems occur in or near Port Au Prince. Jacmel is approximately 4 hours from Port Au Prince. The US Department of State puts out current information on their website.

What kind of immunizations do I need to visit Haiti?

We require that everyone traveling to visit us have a current tetanus shot. However, several other immunizations are recommended by the CDC for visiting Haiti. Some people who visit us get them all, some people get none. Most people who visit do take anti-malaria medicine. Malaria is a risk in Jacmel.

What are the religious beliefs of Haitians?

It is reported that 80% of Haitians are Catholic and 16% are Protestant. However, 50% of all Haitians also practice voodoo. (If you do the math you will see that this includes many Catholics and Protestants.)

Where is Jacmel?

By car, Jacmel is 4 hours south of Port Au Prince on the southern coast of Haiti. (By airplane, 15 minutes!) It is a medium-sized city of approximately 25,000. Jacmel is a very old, quaint built in the New Orleans style by wealthy merchants in the city in the 19th century—and not much has changed since then (except for the cell phone advertisements everywhere you look!) Jacmel is well known for Carneval, which is the Mardi Gras of the Caribbean.