Preview

Causes and Effects Haiti Living Conditions Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
757 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Causes and Effects Haiti Living Conditions Essay Example
Causes and effects of the decrease of living conditions in Haiti

The deforestation of Haiti is one of the causes leading to the decrease of living conditions in Haiti.
As Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Americas, the Haitians routinely cut down the trees to burn them or turn them into charcoal and sell this. (National geographic daily news, 2010)
Due to this, Haiti became one of the most deforested countries in the world. (Country studies, 2011)
Between 1990 and 2010, Haiti lost an average of 750 ha, which is 0.65% per year. Haiti lost 12.9% of its forest cover, or around 15,000 ha in total in these 20 years. (Mongobay Haiti deforestation data, 2010). This deforestation ensures that soil looses moist of its water-holding capacity and therefore makes Haiti even more vulnerable for flash floods and frequent mudslides caused by heavy rain from tropical storms and hurricanes. The tsunami caused high amount of rubble and with this belongings flooded away. Unclear property rights and lack of land titles complicated shelter recovery efforts (UNHCR, UNAID 2010).

The distressed economy of Haiti is one of the reasons why 80% of the population lives in poverty. Haiti is the poorest nation of America, having a GDP of $12.44 billion. (CIA world Factbook, 2010) Being this underprivileged results in a low infrastructure. (USAID) Next to this, due to the poorness parents can not afford the costs of education of their children and let them stay at home to help them with manual labour. Private schools are the only schools in Haiti and very few families can afford even the most modest tuition. (Haiti Education Foundation, 2012)

The Haitians, humanitarian aid workers and many others are afraid that funds given by humanitarian organisations will end up in the pockets of the politicians.
Transparency International, a group that studies government corruption, rates Haiti's government as one of the world's most corrupt and least effective, despite efforts

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Haiti Is Cruel Summary

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the article Sometimes, The Earth is Cruel by Leonard Pitts, the author discusses how distressing it is to be Haitian. In nearly the past twenty two years, Haiti has suffered from multiple natural catastrophes. Haiti struggles with hurricanes, tropical storms, political instability, and most recently, a consequential earthquake. In his article, Pitts discusses how humans are able to return to stability after these occurrences, which is not the case for Haiti. Leonard Pitts recognizes that it always seems to be “Haiti’s turn.” The main predicament Pitts recognizes is that Haiti always seems to be the country next in line for natural catastrophes.…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hatian Revolution Dbq

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Before the revolution, Haiti was an extremely successful French sugar plantation colony. As the revolution progressed, however, their financial successes began to diminish. According to Douglas Egerton, Thomas Jefferson had an embargo placed upon Haiti, hoping that it would decrease influence of revolt upon the United States’ slaves. In 1806, “trade was formally shut down between the United States and Haiti, which decimated the already very weak Haitian economy.” Professor Egerton is most likely an objective and trustworthy source, being a history professor at Le Moyne College. Haiti only produced cash crops, and once cut off from all possible traders, they had no source of income, leading to a striking economic downturn. To this day, Haiti has remained an economically instable nation, which is a direct result of their early economic restrictions. Once having a successful economy, Haiti lost their income through the duration of the revolution with embargoes and limited trade.…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Language Practicum In Haiti

    • 3993 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Haiti is one of the world’s poorest nations in the western hemisphere, which is still suffering the impact and devastation of the earthquake today. A nation so often on its knees had been knocked to the ground. (Clinton). On January 12, 2012 Haiti was struck by an earthquake with 7.0 magnitudes. Many Haitians suffered while others lost their lives. The earthquake shred many homes leaving many people homeless. Many towns got ruined and wrecked, even cities got ripped apart and drowned. The churches were crumbled and schools and banks. The best and fanciest hotels in town were crumbled…

    • 3993 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    President Obama promised that Haiti would have the “unwavering support” of the United States. Mr. Obama said that the United States aid agencies were moving swiftly to get help to Haiti and that search-and-rescue teams were en route. He described the reports of destruction as “truly heart-wrenching,” made more cruel given Haiti’s long-troubled circumstances. “This is a time when we are reminded of the common humanity that we all share,” Mr. Obama said. (Romero, 2010).…

    • 3574 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Haiti Economic Analysis

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Nevertheless, much remains to be done to reduce poverty and improve the lives of Haitians.…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Republic of Haiti is in the western part of the island of Hispaniola in the West Indies. It is densely populated and has the lowest per capita income in the western hemisphere (Kemp, 2001). The population of more than seven million is made up of mostly descendents of African slaves brought to the West Indies by French colonists. The horrible conditions in Haiti, such as crushing poverty, unemployment and illiteracy, and high rates of acute and chronic illnesses and child and infant mortality, result in the illegal immigration of many Haitians to the United States, France, and other countries in Western Europe. Most immigrants are adults and teens who leave Haiti in tiny boats, despite the risk of drowning and other hazards. According to Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) 2001 statistics, the number of refugees has declined to several thousand per year since the early 1990's.…

    • 1677 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    To conclude, United States and Haiti have two different ways of raising children, two different lifestyles, but alike in religions. Even though Haitian parents are poor, they raise good kids. Haitian kids do everything to protect their dignities. United States has a lot of work to do to improve the way of raising kids. American children need to be more respectful. In a society respect is very important. Children should be taught well. In this case they will behave every day in…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the most devastating natural disasters known to man, the “earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck Haiti, killing more than 160,000 and displacing close to 1.5 million people” (Laurent). These are statistics that none would ever even imagine possible, let alone to a country that was not paid much attention to. Nothing more was expected of 11-year-old Helly Florian than to do well in school. “I was getting ready to take the state exam for sixth graders,” Helly stated. Normal, everyday activity for Helly blended in with the happenings of the rest of the country of Haiti. Then all at once, the demeanor of all of Haiti…

    • 555 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Corruption In Haiti Essay

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Corruption is present in all all governments but it never was a detrimental deciding factor of whether a country succeeds or not. Foreign aid should be directed towards the government more than the NGOs, so that the government can spend it accordingly since they know more about the country then the countries coming in and attempting to assist. For example “Attendees pledged $479 million. But only a third of that amount was delivered [...] attendees often over promised and under delivered” (Katz 130). “Haitians were also under misapprehension that aid money went to Haitian government. If money were not pledged but not delivered, they assumed their leaders had stolen it.” (Katz 130). Government is misperceived because of the failures of countries delivering the promised aid and this is so common all governments are suffering from this. Corruption can be overwhelmed if the foreign aid goes to governments so that they can invest in the public sectors like ethics where they will have enough money to fund the judges, police, medical staff, and the tax collectors (Moyo…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Adaptation In Haiti

    • 1062 Words
    • 5 Pages

    After spending ten days in Haiti, I came to realize how spoiled and easy life is for me. Seeing the Haitian people’s daily work and living conditions really has had an impact on how I view various situations. Adaptation is a part of human nature. People in the United States have adapted to various diseases and their way of life, just like the people of Haiti adapt to different diseases and their ways of life. Disease and poverty still control Haiti and those who live in it, unlike those of us living in the U.S. The country has received millions of dollars in aid since the earthquake in 2010, but how much longer until they can support themselves?…

    • 1062 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Haiti President History

    • 3208 Words
    • 13 Pages

    It is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, 80% of the population lives in abject poverty, and natural disasters frequently sweep the nation. Two-thirds of all Haitians depend on the agriculture sector, which consists mainly of small-scale subsistence farming. Following legislative elections in May of 2000, fraught with irregularities, international donors - including the US and EU - suspended almost all aid to…

    • 3208 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poverty In Haiti

    • 926 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Disease and unsanitary conditions are problems in Haiti. Without a central water filter system, a lot of the water in Haiti is polluted which makes it easier to contract a disease. Many Haitians leave in order to find cleaner, safer locations.…

    • 926 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Haiti is a very poor country and so is the economy. Living in haiti was very stressful for a…

    • 185 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hunger In Haiti

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In 2010, a massive earthquake hit Haiti, demolishing everything, including markets and warehouses (Katz). There was $31 million in damages and $722 million to damages to agriculture (Katz).The earthquake also left 2.5 million people without the proper necessities to survive(Katz). Haiti was so dependent on rice exports that when the prices on imports increased and went to…

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What Is Haiti In Haiti

    • 1417 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Haiti possesses the western third of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which it offers with the Dominican Republic. Haiti is marginally littler than the condition of Maryland and lies only southeast of Cuba. Haiti is exceptionally uneven. Truth be told, the word Ayiti was a Taino (the first occupants of Haiti) word for place where there is mountains. The capital of Haiti is Port–au–Prince, which lies in the focal point of the nation, on the coast. Other essential urban communities incorporate Cap Haitien, which is in the upper east bank of the nation, and Les Cayes, which is on the southwest coast. Generally, 90 percent of Haiti was secured with woods. Since figure is 4 percent or less. Most trees have been sliced to make charcoal. This…

    • 1417 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays