About Haiti
Haiti is located in the Caribbean on the western third of the island of Hispaniola. It was once the prize of France’s colonial empire. In 1804 Haiti staged history’s only successful slave rebellion and gained its’ independence when it defeated Napoleon forces, thus making it the oldest Black republic in the world.
Ninety-five percent of Haiti's 8.3 million people are descendents of African slaves brought to the New World. It is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and among the poorest in the world. The per capita annual income is $350, and 75 percent of the people live below the poverty level set by the World Bank. About 70 percent are illiterate, and only one in four children attend school. Most of the population are subsistence farmers, farming the steep hillsides on small plots of land. Unemployment runs about 66 percent, and those that work earn less than $5 a day.
The vicious cycle of poverty that grips Haiti is caused by 200 years of poor government, exploitation, illiteracy, disease, and Voodoo fatalism.
Paths in Haiti are not unlike God's - "narrow and steep."
Hope in the Light Ministry
"Doing God's Work in Haiti"
The Lord shall be a light unto me.
Micah 7:9
