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| Haiti Twinning Project |
| For information on how you can help click here. |
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Haiti Fact Sheet |
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LOCATION: Haiti is located 700 miles southeast of Miami, just 100 minutes air travel time, occupying the
western third of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti is
only 60 miles from Cuba.
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SIZE: 10,714 square miles, or 1/4 the size of Virginia (about the size of Maryland). |
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POPULATION: Approximately 8.2 million people. Over 1.5 million live abroad, mostly in the U.S. and Canada,
with an estimated additional number (varying between 450,000 to 750,000) living in the
neighboring Dominican Republic.
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GOVERNMENT: Independent Republic since 1804. Since then there has been instability
in the government with many factions vying for power. Before the first democratic elections were held in December 1990,
Francois Duvalier and then his son, Jean-Claude, ran a brutal dictatorship. When the elections occurred in 1990 the
turnout of eligible voters exceeded 60% and Jean Bertrand Aristide was elected President. A nonviolent transfer of power
from President Aristide to newly elected Rene Preval took place February 7, 1996. Aristide was re-elected president November 26, 2000.
The Parliament of 83 delegates and 27 senators was elected in May 2000 (with terms extending to February 7, 2006). President Aristide was
removed from Haiti in February 2004. An interim government stayed in power until the spring of 2006 when Rene Preval was elected as
President of Haiti. |
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RELIGION: 80% Roman Catholic; 10% various Protestant mainline churches. Evangelical Christians are
increasingly becoming evident. Vodou remains a part of Haitian culture stemming from African
roots and the government officially recognizes the Vodouist Federation.
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LANGUAGE: Creole and French are official but everyone speaks Creole. All of Haitian law is in French. Some
grassroots groups and the clergy are learning English.
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EDUCATION: Free public education is sporadic and non-existent in many rural areas. Only 5-10% of rural children ever complete elementary school. 80% of the population is illiterate. |
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LIVING CONDITIONS: Only 15% of the rural population has access to safe water. Most families do not have electricity or
running water. Sanitary facilities as we know them, sewage disposal, flush toilets, etc., are almost
nonexistent. 2.4 million people live in urban slums. In 1999 the UN designated Haiti the 3rd
hungriest nation in the world behind Somalia and Afghanistan.
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LIFE EXPECTANCY: 54 years. For some labor activities such as pulling bourets, 45 years. |
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ECONOMY: Average per capita income is less than $400, closer to $150 in the rural areas. Less than 1% of the
population controls the majority of the wealth. Fewer than 200 families control the entire economy. There is little trade between Haiti and other
countries. Much of the food for survival, such as rice, is imported at low prices because of subsidies to U.S. farmers by the U.S. government.
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| From the Richmond Diocese's Haiti Office |
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| Vision |
| We envision this committee to be a formation of people for
outreach ministries, offering a consciousness of hope, inspiration, and challenge
in a needy world. |
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| Mission |
| Promote a consistent ethic of life and the work of justice and peace by educating
others in the formation and performance of outreach ministries, by actively engaging in transforming our
community from a faith perspective, and by collaborating with other organizations endorsing a similar
vision under the guidance of the Richmond Diocese. |
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