Orphans in Impoverished Haiti

Dalva Dayton
Power of One Speech
Orphans in Impoverished Haiti

Haiti is located just off the coast of Florida. Although it is so close, Haiti is a completely different world when it’s compared to the United States. In the U.S., four and a half percent of children are orphans. In contrast, fourteen percent or 1.2 million children in Haiti are orphans out of a population of about 8 million.(Country) This is an overwhelming amount and you would think that the country would be doing everything they can to give these children homes. Some components that cause so many homeless people are the corrupt government, no or poor healthcare and education, and the lack of a sustainable economy and natural resources. These issues then result in more problems like crime, unemployment, poverty, and disease. All of these problems set the orphan issue further back as a priority.

The poverty in Haiti is enormous and shocking. The unemployment rate in Haiti is 70%, and the average amount a Haitian earns a day is $1.00-$1.50. (Settle, 15) The population has a high illiteracy rate due to only half of the children attending school, the shortage of schools, and the cost. The usual annual income for a family is $250, and school can cost $40 a year. (Arthur, 30) Most parent can’t provide basic needs for themselves, let alone kids as well. Many are forced to decide whether or not they can care for their children, or f they’d be better off in an orphanage. When my mom, Erika, went to Haiti she sat next to a woman on a bus who had considered dumping her baby into the garbage because she couldn’t take care of it.

Pollution is a huge problem and 29% of Haitians don’t have access to clean drinking water. (Clean Water) This, plus the fact that the streets are lined with trash leads to a number of diseases and deaths. The infant mortality rate is 63.83 deaths for every 1000 births. One Haitian dies every hour due to starvation. Some people are forced to eat mud pies just in order to survive. The maternal mortality rate is 523 deaths per 100,00, which is another cause of orphans. (Haiti)

Since healthcare is hard to come by, contraceptives are rarely used. Many would have to choose between eating or buying contraceptives, and because of this increases unwanted pregnancies, which lead to more orphans. 90% of Haitians practice voodoo so don’t believe that AIDS is spread through blood. As a result they don’t use contraceptives which spreads the disease. (Settle, 25) 6.1% of adults are living with AIDS and many parents die from it and then their children are left behind, many times with AIDS themselves. Of all the orphans in Haiti, 43.2% were orphans due to AIDS related deaths. Not only the parents, but 5,000 babies are born each year that are infected with AIDS. In 2005 there were 16,000 deaths related to AIDS. In 2001, 12,000 children aged 0-14 were living with HIV/AIDS. (Country) Syphilis and tuberculosis are also big problems in Haiti. There are 67,000 deaths a year that are related to tuberculosis. (Infectious)

Jobs are sparse in Haiti. A mass deforestation to produce coal has effected the land environment, making it difficult to cultivate when many people rely on agriculture to support themselves. Little is actually produced in Haiti and the goods that Haitians buy are all imported from the U.S., so their economy never prospers. Right now the food is very expensive. It is rotting on ships and on docks because the government won’t let them in and because of this there are numerous riots. (Dayton)

The adoption process is confusing, long, and extremely stressful. Infrastructure doesn’t exist in government offices, which therefor slows the adoption process. Haiti’s government is the fourth most corrupt government in the world. Government Statistics) The leaders find little time to build up the infrastructure. The government spends large amounts of money on weaponry, which is hard to believe since people are starving and dying from disease on the streets. Another frustrating issue is that there are only 63 policemen to every 100,000 people, which makes it hard to stop all the violence and crime.

Our family has been in the adoption process for 2 years and we still are uncertain about when the two boys we are adopting will actually come here. We are adopting through Chances For Children, who support the Crèche de I’Enfant Jesus in Ti Mache in Haiti. The home study process took about 3-4 months, but the government paperwork has been what’s slowed it down. It’s been 21 months since Naderson has officially been identified as the son of my parents. This process was originally supposed to take 6-9 months, but now it is estimated at 12-18 months. My parents have made multiple trips to Haiti to visit Naderson and Jestevenson. Not only has my mom been to Haiti 5 times, but she has worked to help the Crèche by bringing many supplies like diapers, rice, and even soccer cleats and equipment so the local kids could play. She’s guided other trips of parents to the orphanage and has helped writing proposals to get health care grants.

The families that adopt from The Crèche bring all the formula and food for the orphanage and raise money to help bring electricity to the village. The Duncan family owns the Crèche Orphanage and owns much of the land in the village. They are very generous to the locals. They help them get jobs and land, and they’ve built a school and are in the process of building a high school. Many kids that should be attending high school don’t because they need to stay home and take care of their younger siblings. Gina Duncan has tried to solve this problem by organizing a daycare to watch over the kids while the older ones attend school. One woman from U.S. is going to Haiti for 3 weeks in order to train potential teachers that will be working in the newly built high school.

Another program that is working to help Haiti is Zanmi Lasante, which means “Partners in Health”. This is the largest non-governmental health care provider in Haiti, and the only provider of comprehensive primary care. They help more than half a million people in the Central Plateau that are in poverty.
They help with childbirth, pneumonia, diarrhea (which is a leading cause of death in Haiti), HIV, and tuberculosis. Partners In Health have another program called POSER (Program on Social and Economic Rights). POSER builds houses, helps solve drinking water problems, pays for school fees, and provides nutritional support. (Zanmi)

Dr. Paul Farmer is another person trying to help Haiti. He has set up health clinics throughout Haiti. Not only does this provide needed health assistance, but he educates people and creates jobs. (A New Hospital) A similar project is done by Dr. Pat Wolf. She created a product called Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) made from peanut butter. This is an effort to stop malnourishment. The peanuts are grown in Haiti and are picked and then made into the peanut butter process. Once again, this provides jobs and tends to hungry children at the same time. (Stop Malnutrition)

In order to help the situation in Haiti, people can donate money to many different organizations, send supplies like my mom did, and ultimately, they can adopt a child and give them a better life. As soon as a child is adopted, then there’s more room for another orphan.


To help, visit these agencies' websites:

Doctors Without Borders

Direct Relief International













Bibliography

Arthur, Charles. Haiti: A Guide to the People, Politics and Culture. Northhampton: Interlink Books, 2005.

Dayton, Erika. Personal interview. June 14, 2008.

Settle, Alecia. Visualize Haiti: Inspirational Photography. Louisville: Visualize Publishing, LLC, 2007.

Clean Water. International Child Care Inc. June 2008. .

Country Data Profile: Orphans: Oct. 2003. PHNI. June 14. .

Government Statistics. 2008. Nation Mater. June 13. .

Haiti. Nov.2004. June 13. .

Infectious Diseases. Oct. 2006. USAID. June 14. .

Stop Malnutrition. Med & Foods For Kids. June 14. .

Zanmi Lasante. 2006. June 11. .