HAITI
Haiti is an island nation in the
Caribbean Sea. Currently the
poorest country in the
Western Hemisphere, Haiti has
experienced political instability
for most of its history.
After an armed rebellion led to
the forced exile of President
Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE in
2004, an interim government
organized new elections under
the auspices of the United
Nations.
Following continued instability,
Haiti democratically elected a
president and parliament in
May of 2006. Contested
elections in 2010 resulted in
the election of Haiti's current
President, Michel MARTELLY.
Instability continues to rob
Haitians of life, liberty, and
happiness.
Haiti is on the west end of the island of Hispaniola. The terrain consists mainly
of rugged mountains, coastal plains, and river valleys.
Population: 10 million
Statistics are from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency: World Factbook
(https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html).
Religion
Roman Catholic 80%, Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%,
Adventist 1%, other 1%), none 1%, other 3%
Note: Roughly half of the population practices voodoo.
Ethnic Groups: black 95%, mulatto and white 5%
Life Expectancy: 63 Years
Infant Mortality: 124 deaths per 1000
Children having children.
Throughout Haiti, nearly 2/3 of the out-of-school children become sexually
active by the age of 12. When they do not hear the life-saving message of
Jesus Christ, many girls become mothers before they become teenagers.
These uneducated children are then trapped in a life of poverty, disease,
misery, and early death.
Population below poverty line: 80% with 54% in abject poverty.
Unemployment Rate: 40%
Haiti’s ongoing socio-economic problems, including high unemployment
rates, have prompted Haiti’s destitute to seek alternative sources of income,
which are often illegitimate.
Orphans
UNICEF estimates that there are about half a million orphans in Haiti.
Many of these are abandoned or sold into slavery by their parents,
who are too poor to care for them.
Law Enforcement
Haiti’s police forces have suffered from mismanagement, corruption, and a
lack of funding. Since 2004, peacekeepers from the UN have assisted in
maintaining civil order. Rampant crime, sex trafficking, narcotics trafficking,
and gang violence continue to be the most immediate problems.
Literacy Rate
Although there are no public schools in Haiti, 48% of adults can read and
write. Foreign missionaries and non-governmental organizations are trying to
fill this huge vacancy. The lack of schooling contributes greatly to the high
levels of unemployment, poverty, and crime.
Population with Safe Drinking Water: 37%
Haiti
Dominican
Republic
Deforestation: 95%
Haiti’s ecology may be past the point-of-no-return. Flying over Haiti after a rain
storm, you will see the soil draining into the oceans as brown clouds stain the
water.
Hurricanes
Because Haiti is in the Caribbean's hurricane belt, tropical storms and
hurricanes are frequent. Flash flooding and mudslides are common from
June to October.
Earthquakes
Tropical storms are not the only natural hazard for Haiti. A magnitude 7.0
earthquake devastated Haiti in January 2010 near the capital, Port-auPrince. Over 300,000 people were killed and 1.5 million were left homeless.
Tent cities that popped up after the earthquake were rampant with disease,
looting, violence, and more deaths.
Dr. Walta Jean Duliepre Clercius
Pastor Walta, who is a pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Port-auPrince and a professor at The University of Haiti, was frustrated at the magnitude
of the devastation. Although his heart was filled with compassion for the people in
Port-au-Prince, the need was so much greater than any one person could do.
Laotchikit
In the midst of this earthquake
tragedy, the Lord led Pastor
Walta to a small village in the
Central Highlands. He saw
that the people in Laotchikit
also were in desperate need
of help. Laotchikit is an
extremely poor area with no
church or other civic
structures. There are no
doctors, hospital, electricity,
and no jobs. Although the
need in Laotchikit was very
great, Pastor Walta could help
these people.
Laotchikit homes are very
small, and the people are
extremely poor. There are
no electricity, hospital,
doctors, and jobs.
Although the Village of Laotchikit was not seriously affected by the earthquake,
employment is nonexistent, and poverty is severe.
NOTE: The colorful clothing in all slides was recently delivered by short-term
missionaries from North Carolina.
The Laotchikit Farmers Market abounds with rocks.
Miraculously, God put Pastor Walta in touch with
some Lutheran Churches in North Carolina.
Working together with Divine Guidance, they built
the First Evangelical Lutheran Church of Laotchikit
on this Haiti National Highway .
The people are so eager to hear God’s Word that they walk up to 5 miles to
attend The First Evangelical Lutheran Church of Laotchikit.
Pastor Walta baptizes new believers in a nearby stream.
Pastor Walta counsels a Laotchikit
family at the church.
Although marriage is not common in Haiti, manyThe
couples
asked
be united in
Village
of toLaotchikit
Holy Matrimony after they committed their lives to Jesus Christ.
Lutheran Churches in North Carolina donated funds to drill wells
so Laotchikit families could have safe drinking water.
Behind the church, workers use machetes and
other hand tools to construct a hen house for
1500 hens.
The chickens will supply a much
needed source of protein to the meager
Haitian diet. In the Laotchikit area, a
typical family has one meal of rice and
beans about every two or three days.
Lutheran Churches in North Carolina donated goats to provide
a supply of milk for needy families with young children.
Seeing that education was needed to abolish poverty, Pastor Walta
started a school at the church. For information about how the school
is transforming lives, click here.