My second post of the year, a slow start. I find myself riveted to the news channels as this story of devastation unfolds. I've started to learn more about Haiti, and initially I made the same mistake that I hear a lot of people making, comparing Haiti to Katrina. Not even in the same league.
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Country & Population
- Population a little over 9 million.
- Nearly 40 percent of the country's population is under the age of 14.
- Haiti ranks as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with 80 percent of its people living below the poverty line and 54 percent existing in abject poverty.
- Most Haitians live on less than $2 a day.
- Haiti has one of the world's lowest life expectancy rates (181st out of 190 countries ranked by the CIA World Factsheet). The average Haitian lives only 60 years.
- Eighty percent of the country is Roman Catholic and 16 percent is Protestant; nearly half the population also practices voodoo.
- Approximately half of Haiti's population cannot read or write.
- The Haiti telecommunications infrastructure is among the least developed in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Continue reading "Life outside the bubble: Haiti is not Katrina. It’s much worse. " »
