I'm sooo far behind on these date nights. not in terms of doing them, but in terms of posting them!!! We visited Haiti in July. I wasn't sure what to expect of Haiti, but I knew I was happy it wasn't in the middle east.
As you all know, Haiti is a poverty stricken country-but it is beautiful. It shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, it's more economically sound brother to the east.
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Haiti is a Caribbean country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic to its east. Though it’s still recovering from a 2010 earthquake, many of Haiti's landmarks dating to the early 19th century remain intact. These include Citadelle la Ferrière, a mountaintop fortress, and the nearby ruins of Sans-Souci Palace, the baroque former royal home of King Henry I.
Native Haitians were pre-Columbian Amerindians called Taíno, “the good people.” The Taíno named their land “Ayiti,” meaning “Land of Mountains”—a term that evolved into “Haiti.”[1]
Eighty percent of Haitians live under the poverty line and 54% live in abject poverty. The average per capita income in Haiti is $480 a year, compared to $33,550 in the United States.[2]
Because of both violence and AIDS, Haiti has the highest percentage of orphans of any country in the Western Hemisphere. Before the 2010 earthquake, the United Nations estimated there were 430,000 orphans.[5
A typical worker in Haiti makes only $2.75 a day. Because jobs are so scarce (approximately 70% do not have regular jobs), those who do have jobs are afraid to speak out against unfair labor practices.
Eighty percent of Haitians are Roman Catholic, 16% are Protestant, and 4% are other. Voodoo is often practiced alongside Christianity
Only 53% of Haitians can read and write.
Gourds were so important to the Haitian people that in 1807, President Henri Christophe (1761-1820) made them the base of national currency and declared all gourds the property of the state. Today, the Haitian currency is called “gourdes.
In 1803, Jean-Jacques Dessalines (1758-1806), Haiti’s first ruler, created the nation’s flag by ripping out the white stripe in the French red, white, and blue flag, claiming he would rip white people from the nation. The remaining blue and red stripes represented blacks and mulattos of Haiti. Haiti’s coat of arms sits in the center.
Haiti is the third largest country in the Caribbean, after the Dominican Republic and Cuba, which is the largest
In the eighteenth century, Haitians developed elaborate tables of genetic descent, dividing mulattos into over a hundred shades of black and white. These ranged from the Sacatra which were seven-eighths black, to the several varieties of Sangmeles, which are only one-sixteenth black. Technically, a mulatto is someone who is half black and half white
Cock fighting is a traditional sport in Haiti. The roosters are fed raw meet and hot peppers soaked in rum to make them aggressive and tough. The winner might bring home $67, which is more than a person would earn in an entire month
Haiti is the most mountainous nation in the Caribbean
Haiti is one of the few countries in the world where the destruction of the original woodland is almost complete A muddy brown ring surrounds the country’s coastline where topsoil has washed into the sea.
Haiti and Canada are the only two independent nations in the Americas that have French as an official language. Though approximately 90% of Haitians use Creole as their primary language, Creole wasn’t made an official language alongside French until 1987.
With an area of 10,714 square miles (27,750 square kilometers), Haiti is only slightly larger than Vermont
Haiti is one of the least developed yet most densely populated countries in the Western Hemisphere. Its population density is 747 people per square mile (295 per sq. km.). Comparable in size to Haiti, Vermont’s population density is 65.8 people per square mile
Jean-Bertrand Aristide won Haiti’s first free election in December 1990. He fled the country a year later after being ousted in a military coup. He was president again from 1994-1996 and then from 2001 to 2004, when he was ousted again
In Haiti, there is one hospital bed for every 10,000 inhabitants. There are only about eight doctors and 10 nurses for every 100,000 inhabitants
The life expectancy for Haiti is low: 50 years for men and 53 years for women
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| For dinner we had Haitian beans and rice along with a stewed chicken and avocado slices. |
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| Simple, but very tasty. |
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For dessert we had what they call blanc manger- its basically a coconut flan with fruit cocktail poured in it.
Sorry, I somehow managed to forget to take a picture of us. |
