For all of you who somehow doubt Haiti's historic ties to Voodoo worship aren't linked to the country's extreme Poverty, I invite you to check out the information below on Haiti's History and Profile.
Haiti is the ONLY Westernized country that has NEVER remained successful for very long despite receiving Billions and Billions of dollars in Foreign Aid.
Whether anyone wishes to admit it or not something is definitely wrong with this picture!
Let's see America is Blessed and Prosperous.
Even during Recessions our entire nation has never experienced abject Poverty like Haiti.
Dominican Republican, Haiti's neighbor is also Blessed and Prosperous.
Could it be that America and Dominican Republican's success is tied to historic relationships with the Christian Faith versus Haiti's Voodoo?
Haiti's problems and extreme poverty are not just the result of Political Corruption and Greed. Something else is obviously involved in that nation's long term destruction.
Please understand I'm not debasing Haitian people, nor am I suggesting this earthquake was inflicted upon Haiti by God at all because I don't believe that.
If after perusing the information and videos below you wish to educate me further on this issue, I'm open.
Let's continue praying for Haitians and providing Aid to them.
Meanwhile I do commend the Obama Administration for moving so quickly to help Haiti during this crisis.
Pres. Obama's actions toward Haitians in this harrowing time demonstrates to the world that despite Ethnic, Cultural or Political differences, we should always endeavor to help other Human Beings in need.
(PBS) Haiti's Relationship With Voodoo Religion & Constant Impoverished Living Conditions
Thirty years ago Jacmel, located on the Caribbean island nation of Haiti, 600 miles off the coast of the United States, was a thriving resort for the rich and famous. Today, its beaches are badly neglected and the hotels are without guests. Buildings are decaying; fading memories of early Spanish and French colonization. Open-air markets have little to offer. As a tourist destination, Jacmel is a total disaster.
As a nation, Haiti is steeped in poverty, a case study of a country verging on complete environmental and economic collapse. It was never meant to be this way. In front of the Presidential Palace there's a heroic statue of a slave's call to revolution — a vivid reminder that in 1804 Haiti rose up against European colonialism to become the world's first Black Republic.
Two hundred years later Haiti is still independent and deeply spiritual. Seeking relief from the hardships of poverty, eighty percent of the population are devoted to the Catholic church. But nearly everyone clings to their African heritage by practicing Voodoo.
Brought to Haiti aboard slave ships in the 17th century, Voodoo is a religion hidden in secrecy and symbolism — a combination of West African and Roman Catholic beliefs. It not only provides a strong sense of identity; it gives the people a Haiti an outlet to express their fears and hopes.
Nearly 70% of the country is mountainous and the soil is hard to hold in place — but even worse — for every tree planted six are chopped down. Eighty years ago 60% of the country was covered with trees. Today less than 2% remain. Uncontrolled logging and the conversion of forests into farmland has contributed to an environmental nightmare. But the use of wood as an energy source — in the form of charcoal — is the major cause of deforestation. Sold on nearly every street corner, it's easy to use and inexpensive. For the impoverished there's simply no alternative, and so the deforestation goes on, causing additional environmental and economic pressures.
Deforestation has affected the lives of the fishermen of Luly. Once, catches of snapper and spiny lobster used to be good enough to support a family... but not any more. Haiti's waters are over-fished. Worse, every time it rains, eroded soil washes into the sea, polluting the water and wreaking havoc on marine life.
Olivant Valcin has worked these waters all his life. Today his efforts bring little reward. He'll earn about a $1 for his labor — a sad economic fact that drives Luly's young people to Haiti's Capital, Port-au-Prince in search of work.
Many end up in Citie Soilel, the city's poorest slum. This is where 400,000 thousand people live in extreme environmental squalor. Sanitation and health care are non-existent and residents are forced to pay exorbitant prices for clean water. Poverty and frustration leads to instability, as the streets become a battle ground for rival gangs.
Funeral processions are common in Port-au-Prince. This is a country with the highest infant mortality rate and lowest life expectancy in the western hemisphere. But Haiti's chronic impoverishment is not only about a degraded environment, it's about a long history of repressive dictatorships and political corruption — factors that have influenced large scale migrations.
Over the years 2 million Haitians have fled to the United States — legally and illegally. Many were boat people. Some never survived the 600 mile ordeal, and most were returned to Haiti where living conditions deteriorated and people became victims of extreme human rights violations.
Just outside of Citie Soliel is an abandoned military airfield, a reminder that American troops have occupied this country several times over the past hundred years, most recently in 1991 when more than 20,000 United States Marines were part of a UN intervention. Their objective was to restore a democratically elected government ousted by a military coup. In the end, the insurrection was put down and the troops pulled out.
But Haiti's problems deepened. The political turmoil never ended, corruption and human rights violations intensified and financial aid from most outside countries was cut off.
The problems of deforestation and poverty remain. Until they are addressed, the people of Haiti are no different than millions of others around the world — those who seek refuge from severe economic and environmental stress. It will require enormous faith on the part of the people of Haiti to overcome the hardships of the past.
(BBC News) Haiti's Country Profile
Haiti became the world's first black-led republic and the first independent Caribbean state when it threw off French colonial control and slavery in a series of wars in the early 19th century.
However, decades of poverty, environmental degradation, violence, instability and dictatorship have left it as the poorest nation in the Americas.
A mostly mountainous country with a tropical climate, Haiti's location, history and culture - epitomised by voodoo - once made it a potential tourist hot spot, but instability and violence, especially since the 1980s, have severely dented that prospect.
Haiti achieved notoriety during the brutal dictatorships of the voodoo physician Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier and his son, Jean-Claude, or "Baby Doc". Tens of thousands of people were killed under their 29-year rule.
Hopes that the election in 1990 of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a former priest, would herald a brighter future were dashed when he was overthrown by the military a short time later.
Although economic sanctions and US-led military intervention forced a return to constitutional government in 1994, Haiti's fortunes did not pick up, with allegations of electoral irregularities, ongoing extra-judicial killings, torture and brutality.
A bloody rebellion, and pressure from the US and France, forced Mr Aristide out of the country in 2004.
Since then, an elected leadership has taken over from an interim government and a UN stabilisation force has been deployed. But Haiti is still plagued by violent confrontations between rival gangs and political groups and the UN has described the human rights situation as "catastrophic".
Meanwhile, Haiti's most serious underlying social problem, the huge wealth gap between the impoverished Creole-speaking black majority and the French-speaking minority, 1% of whom own nearly half the country's wealth, remains unaddressed.
Many Haitians seek work and a better life in the US or other Caribbean nations, including the neighbouring Dominican Republic, which is home to hundreds of thousands of Haitian migrants.
Furthermore, the infrastructure has all but collapsed and drug trafficking has corrupted the judicial system and the police.
Haiti is also ill-equipped to deal with the aftermath of the tropical storms that frequently sweep across the island, with severe deforestation having left it vulnerable to flooding.
(PBS) Haiti's Demographics & Country Profile:
Background:
One of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has been plagued by political violence for most of its history. Over three decades of dictatorship followed by military rule ended in 1990 when Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president. Most of his term was usurped by a military takeover, but he was able to return to office in 1994 and oversee the installation of a close associate to the presidency in 1996. Aristide won a second term as president in 2000, and took office early in 2001. However, a political crisis stemming from fraudulent legislative elections in 2000 has not yet been resolved.
Location:
Caribbean, western one-third of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of the Dominican Republic
Area:
Total: 27,750 sq km
land: 27,560 sq km
water: 190 sq km
Area Comparative:
Slightly smaller than Maryland
Climate:
Tropical; semiarid where mountains in east cut off trade winds
Terrain:
Mostly rough and mountainous
Elevation Extremes:
Lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
Highest point: Chaine de la Selle 2,680 m
Natural Resources:
Bauxite, copper, calcium carbonate, gold, marble, hydropower
Land Use:
Arable land: 20%
permanent crops: 13%
other: 67% (1998 est.)
Natural Hazards:
Lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding and earthquakes; periodic droughts
Environment & Current Issues:
Extensive deforestation (much of the remaining forested land is being cleared for agriculture and used as fuel); soil erosion; inadequate supplies of potable water
Geography:
Shares island of Hispaniola with Dominican Republic (western one-third is Haiti, eastern two-thirds is the Dominican Republic)
Population:
7,063,722
NOTE: Estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 39.5% (male 1,414,052; female 1,377,693)
15-64 years: 56.3% (male 1,924,867; female 2,049,952)
65 years and over: 4.2% (male 142,657; female 154,501) (2002 est.)
Population Growth Rate:
1.42%
Infant Mortality Rate:
93.35 deaths/1,000 live births
Life Expectancy At Birth:
Total Population:
49.55 years
female: 51.29 years
male: 47.88 years
Ethnic Groups:
black 95%, mulatto and white 5%
Religions:
Roman Catholic: 80%, Protestant: 16%, Baptist: 10%, Pentecostal: 4%, Adventist: 1%, other 1%)
NOTE: Roughly half of the population also practices Voodoo
Languages:
French (official), Creole (official)
Literacy:
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 45%
male: 48%
female: 42.2%
Government Type:
Elected government
Current President:
Rene Garcia Preval
Prime Minister:
Jean-Max Bellerive
Capital:
Port-au-Prince
Independence:
1 January 1804 (from France)
Legal System:
Based on Roman civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Flag Description:
Two equal horizontal bands of blue (top) and red with a centered white rectangle bearing the coat of arms, which contains a palm tree flanked by flags and two cannons above a scroll bearing the motto L'UNION FAIT LA FORCE (Union Makes Strength)
Economy:
Overview: About 80% of the population lives in Abject Poverty. Nearly 70% of all Haitians depend on the agriculture sector, which consists mainly of small-scale subsistence farming and employs about two-thirds of the economically active work force. The country has experienced little job creation since the former President Preval took office in February 1996, although the informal economy is growing. Following legislative elections in May 2000, fraught with irregularities, international donors - including the U.S. and EU - suspended almost all aid to Haiti. The economy shrank an estimated 1.2% in 2001, and the contraction has intensified to this day.
GDP:
Per Capita purchasing power parity: $1,700
Population Below Poverty Line:
80%
Labor Force:
3.6 million
NOTE: Shortage of skilled labor; unskilled labor abundant
Unemployment Rate:
Widespread unemployment and underemployment; more than two-thirds of the labor force do not have formal jobs
Industries:
Sugar refining, flour milling, textiles, cement, light assembly industries based on imported parts
Agriculture:
Products: Coffee, mangoes, sugarcane, rice, corn, sorghum; wood
Exports:
Commodities, Manufactures, Coffee, Oils, Cocoa
Imports & Commodities:
Food, manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, fuels, raw materials
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Sources: BBC News, PBS, The Louverture Project, Youtube, Google Maps
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