Why Haiti?

• Haiti has a long history of political instability, deforestation, hurricanes, earthquakes and cholera.
• Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
• 80% of the population in Haiti is living under the poverty line.
• Most Haitians live on less than $2 a day.
• More than two-thirds of the labor force does not have formal jobs.
• Approximately half of Haiti’s population cannot read or write.
• 1 in every 10 children dies before reaching age 5.
• Haiti has one of the world’s lowest life expectancy rates (181st out of 190 countries ranked by the CIA World Factsheet). The average Haitian lives only 60 years.
• Nearly 40 percent of the country’s population is under the age of 14.

Why Now?

• On January 12, 2010 a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck just outside of Port-au-Prince, the capital city of Haiti.
• More than 230,000 people were killed as a direct result of the earthquake.
• Over one million are displaced, making Haiti the largest refugee camp in the world.
• Haiti’s population of orphans was over 400,000 prior to the quake and significantly higher now.

• The Red Cross calculates that 3 million — roughly one-third the country’s entire population has been directly affected by the 2010 earthquake.
• Many immediate response organizations have begun to pull out of Haiti leaving massive needs unmet.
• Diseases such as HIV/AIDS, typhoid fever, malaria and hepatitis are prevalent.
• The disabled in Haiti continue to meet much discrimination and are often rejected by their families.

Where there is great need, there is great opportunity.

 

The Dream -Athletes with Disability from Haiti

We are the World – Haiti

Haiti is in dire need of basic rehabilitation, medical and outreach program supplies, equipment and volunteers to support programs to help improve the quality of life of all Haitians but especially those with disabilities.