Facts about Haiti

• Haiti is about a two hour plane ride from Miami to Port-au-Prince, the capital
• Haiti is the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere, with 76 percent of its population below the poverty line, in Kentucky that would be over 3 million people (KY has about 4 million residents)
• Most Haitians live on less than $2 per day
• 95% of Haiti's 8.5 million people are descendents of African slaves
• An estimated 300,000 children are child laborers or Restavecs,* domestic slaves
• Child mortality:
o 1 out of 14 children die before their first birthday
o 1 out of 8 children die before they reach age of 5

• Life expectancy – 49 years , lower in Haiti than in Sudan
• Only 50% of primary-age children are in primary school
• Less than 2% of children finish secondary school
• 40% of the children do not get regular vaccinations for childhood diseases
• Its people have less access to clean water and sanitation than residents of Ethiopia or Sierra Leone
• Chronic malnutrition affects 42% of children under the age of five
• Haiti has the third-highest rate of hunger in the world, behind Somalia and Afghanistan
• Haiti has about 11,000 square miles with over 8.5 million people
• Port-au-Prince, the capital, has about 60% (5 million) of the total urban population
• A greater percentage of Haitians live in poverty than citizens of the war-ravaged Congo in Africa
• Haiti is a beautiful tropical land, with a rich history, full of amazing kids