CARE in Haiti
Decades of poverty, environmental degradation, violence and instability have left Haiti as one of the poorest countries in the world – 80 per cent of Haitians live under the poverty line.
In Haiti we:
- provide food to children in schools
- improve access to quality education
- build and repair infrastructure, such as roads
- support small businesses, for example by giving them access to cheap loans
Nearly 70 per cent of the population depends on agriculture for their living, but the majority of this is small scale subsistence farming. Besides this, there is very little in the way of employment, and regular episodes of violence have destroyed infrastructure.
We began working in Haiti in 1954, providing emergency relief to people affected by Hurricane Hazel. Today we work closely with local NGOs (non governmental organisations), all levels of the Haitian government, companies and community organisations to help create lasting change in some of the most vulnerable regions, like the Grande Anse, West, Artibonite, and Northwest departments.
CARE in action:
Earning a decent living
We’re improving the quality of food produced by 1,300 families in Grande-Anse. Helping families, especially households headed by women earn a decent living by helping them grow fruit and vegetables, raise farm animals and process and market their produce.
Fighting HIV and AIDS
HIV and AIDS rates in the Caribbean are second only to Africa’s. We raise awareness about the disease among the 1.6 million people who live in the Grand Anse, Nippes, north-west and upper Artibonite regions. We teach people how to protect themselves from contracting HIV and AIDS, as well as providing support to families living with it.
Strengthening democracy, governance and social inclusion
With more than half of all Haitians under 24 years of age, we have created youth parliaments to help 20,000 young people learn more about democracy, why their voice matters and how they can use it to make change. According to the 12 year-old President of our last youth parliament, they “help students to better understand electoral processes, teach children how to vote… and why parliament is important”.
Working with more than 500 teachers, 60 parents’ associations and senior community members, the youth parliament has a wide reach. Leveraging its impact, we’re meeting with senior local government officials and school directors to reach out to include children, like restevaks – child domestic servants, who are unable to go to school.
What we do
