Country info: haiti – robinson in the net

Country Info: Haiti

Haiti – interesting information for children from 3.-6. School year over land and people, the severe earthquake in 2010, Hurricane Matthew, child labor, Columbus, Restavèks, Creole and much more.

geography

The country of Haiti is located on an island in the Caribbean. The island is called Hispaniola – in the west lies Haiti, in the east of the island the Dominican Republic.

The whole island is mountainous; the mountains are up to 2,700 m high.
Originally there was in Haiti too dense rainforest, but this is almost completely since 1990 cut down Service. The inhabitants, for example, need the wood to handle it heat or cook. Other fuels are too expensive for the poor. By cutting down, wind and rain can easily wash away the soil, where bushes and trees no longer grow. Besides, there are often here tropical cyclones, which often have devastating consequences.
The island of Hispaniola is located above the border between the Caribbean and the North American earth plate. This often happens here earthquake. The worst earthquake shook Haiti on January 12, 2010 (see “Earthquake 2010”).

Capital

Port-au-Prince is the capital of Haiti and at the same time the largest city of the country. The French founded this city in 1749. In 1804 she became Haiti’s capital. During the severe earthquake in 2010, large parts of the city were destroyed. More than 217,000 people died. Today, about 2.6 million people live in Port-au-Prince.

Webcam: demolition of the destroyed government palace

Number: World Factbook 2018, Wikipedia

population

Live in Haiti around 10.8 millions of people. Most of them are black, their ancestors as Slaves from Africa were abducted. Also live in Haiti Mulattos and whites.

In Haiti, there are only a few people over the age of 64:

Older Haiti Germany
0-14 years old are:
32 out of every 100 people 13 out of every 100 people
15-64 years old are:
64 out of every 100 people 65 out of every 100 people
are older: 4 out of every 100 people 22 out of every 100 people

Numbers: World Factbook 2018

Haiti from A to U

Labor / Child Labor

Out of every 100 Haitians of working age 41 no work.

More than half of all inhabitants is considered poor (59 out of every 100 Haitians).

  • Every second Haitian offers so-called Services on – that means, he / she works z. In hotels, restaurants, shops, laundries or as a craftsman.
  • Every 3rd Haitian works in the Agriculture.
  • Every 8th Haitian works in the Industry.

Every 4th child in Haiti has to work. Especially hard here are the so-called Restavek Children (see “Restavek”).

Sources: World Factbook – Latest figures from 2010/2012, United Nations

Columbus

Near the Port city of Cap Haitien in the north of Haiti is said to be a very old and famous shipwreck lie: More than 500 years ago, Columbus was stranded on a sandbank with the ship “Santa Maria” near Cap Haitien. That’s how he discovered the island of Hispaniola. That happened even at Christmas.

However, the wreck has not been found until today, and many divers and historians are still looking for it.

Earthquake 2010

On January 12, 2010 shook the earth at 4:53 pm in Haiti. Earthquakes are not uncommon in Haiti, but this quake was

  • the worst in the history of the country,
  • one of the heaviest quake in all of North and South America,
  • and the world’s most devastating quakes in the 21st century.

The quake had a magnitude of 7.0. How many people were killed can only be estimated. Haiti’s Prime Minister Bellerive announced one year after the quake announced that around 316,000 people died by the quake.

over 310,000 other people were injured and an estimated 1.85 million people homeless. In total, around 3.2 million people, or one third of the population of Haiti, are affected by the natural disaster.
The Haitian government estimates that around 250,000 apartments and 30,000 shops were destroyed. The resulting economic damage amounts to the equivalent of 5.4 billion euros.

eat

The Haitians use lemons, oranges, bananas, pineapples, mangoes and peanuts in their dishes, as well as millet, corn, cassava, fish and seafood. Meat is very expensive and comes only on special occasions on the table. Typical dishes are for example Diri ak Pwa (Rice and beans), Sòs poulet (Chicken in sauce), Sòs pwa (sweet sauce from beans), La Bouillie (Green banana or cornmeal porridge) and Diri au Let (Dessert from milk, rice and sugar).

Haitian Recipes:

  • Haitian coconut cake
  • AK100

The money in Haiti means Gourde.
1 Gourde = 0.01 Euro
1 Euro = 96.95 Gourde

As of May 2019, Oanda Currency Converter

history

1492 lands Christoph Columbus on the Caribbean island where Haiti is today. He calls the island “La Espanola” (The Spanish). From now on, the island belongs to Spain, although it lies off Central America. She is a Spanish “Colony”. Later, the island gets the name “Hispaniola”. The indigenous population of the island, called Arawaks or Tainos, is almost completely eradicated under Spanish rule.
About the year 1500 The Spaniards are deporting African slaves to Hispaniola, who mainly have to work on sugar plantations.
1697 Spain gives the western third of the island of Hispaniola to France. So this part of the island is now one French colony and henceforth is called Saint Domingue. Under French rule, there is an economic boom in the Cultivation of sugarcane and coffee, which are now very popular in far-away Europe. However, this is only possible through the massive use of slaves: At times, the French are deporting up to 40,000 slaves per year from Africa to the Caribbean island.
Around 1788 There are about 400,000 blacks, 27,000 whites and 22,000 mulattoes (one parent is white, one parent is black).
1791 it comes to the first Slave revolt; Afterwards, warlike conflicts take place here for years – not only between blacks and whites, but also between blacks and mulattos. In between, the Slavery abolished, but reintroduced several times at short notice.
On 1 January 1804 explains the black Jean-Jacques Dessalines the independence of the island state of France and appoints himself emperor. The country gets the name “Haiti”. In return for the recognition of independence, Haiti has been for decades Compensation to France pay. This makes it one of the poorest countries in the world; In addition, it suffers from various rulers.
1915 becomes Haiti from the USA occupied; the US wants to restore order in the country.
1934 withdraw the American forces again.
1990 becomes Bertrand Aristide President. Now, in Haiti, a period of uncertainty with changing presidents begins.
On the 12th of January 2010 happens catastrophic earthquake (see “Earthquake 2010”) with at least 300,000 deaths. More than 1.3 million people become homeless, thousands of buildings are destroyed.

At the October 4, 2016 attracts Hurricane “Matthew” with 230 km / h over Haiti. More than 1,000 people die, at least 30,000 houses, roads and fields are destroyed. 1.4 million people need help.

health

10 out of 100 children under the age of five are undernourished, that is, the body lacks the essentials and it can not develop normally.
Every 3rd Haitian in the city has no way, clean water to drink, in the country even only comes every second of clean drinking water. Very few people have a toilet.

Hurricane “Matthew”

At the October 4, 2016 hurricane “Matthew” hit Haiti with full force. Up to 230 kilometers per hour he destroyed places on the south coast. In the city of Port-à-Piment, “Matthew” devastated almost all the houses and huts, the schools, the cemetery and the churches. Meter-high waves shredded the buildings closest to the beach. It is estimated that more than 1,000 people died, at least 30,000 houses and huts were destroyed. Total were more than 1.4 million people affected by the effects of the cyclone. The Kindernothilfe provided immediate assistance and judged children’s centers to give the children protection and security.

  • Interview with Camina (8), five weeks after the hurricane

Kindernothilfe in Haiti

Since 1981 Kindernothilfe has been working in Haiti. Currently we are promoting there 16,300 girls and boys in 14 projects. Through our Haitian partner organizations, we ensure that children have one Education – for which we have built new schools after the earthquake, u. a. one of the largest schools in Haiti. We inform people about how important the children’s rights are, and we support Restavek Children (see “Restavek”). We help teens, one education to do so that they can find a good job. In the villages, we support women to join together in self-help groups and tackle their problems together and solve them.

  • Kindernothilfe project example in Haiti

climate

The climate in Haiti is tropical. On the coasts it gets up to July and August 35 degrees, in the cooler months of December to February around 31 degrees warm. The lowest temperatures are between 22 and 25 degrees. On the mountains it is cooler, where it stays on average between 18 and 22 degrees. In Haiti there are two rainy seasons: from April to June and from August to November.

country name

Haiti means “Mountainous country” in the language of the Taino – that was the indigenous population on the island, which, however, was almost completely eradicated over the centuries.

Life expectancy

In Haiti, people are getting average 65 years old (in Germany 81 years).

Numbers: World Factbook 2018

religion

83% of the population are Christians. 10% believe in nothing. The rest have either the Voodoo faith, a tradition originating from West Africa (see “History”) – it is characterized by certain sacrificial rituals and dances, often influenced by rum and tobacco – or another religion. Many Haitians practice the Christian as well as the Voodoo faith.

Number: World Factbook, latest figures from 2003

restavek

Live in Haiti around 300,000 restavèk children, mainly in the capital Port-au-Prince. The word “restavèk” comes from the French of Rester avèc and means “stay with someone”. Poor families who mostly live in the countryside give their children to relatives or host families in the city. Parents often trust that the children light Do household chores and get food, housing and education.
But the reality is very different:

In reality, the children often have in terrible conditions work: they work up to 16 hours a day and are often beaten. Not only the adults beat the children, but often their own children of the family.

Restavèks received no money, she do not go to school and they can not go to the doctor if they get sick.

Restavèks are absolutely without rights, dependent, delivered.

Most Restavéks are girls, some of them are younger than 10 years.

school

39%, ie 39 out of every 100 people in Haiti do not read and write. Of 100 children, only 77 go to primary school. In no other Latin American country is the educational situation so bad: there is a lot too few public schools, and the quality of teaching is often so bad that children hardly learn anything.
Especially the so-called Restavek Children (see “Restavék”) are often excluded from education.
The earthquake of 2010 also has destroyed many schools, which are slowly being rebuilt. The Kindernothilfe has with their partners new schools built, u. a. one of the largest schools in Haiti.

Source: World Factbook 2015, United Nations 2008-2012

language

In Haiti one speaks Haitian and French. Haitian is a so-called Creole, which builds on the French language. The French, who reigned in Haiti in the 17th and 18th centuries, brought Slaves from Africa on the island, so they worked for them. They wanted to prevent these slaves from talking to each other – they were afraid that they might plan such an uprising against their masters. So they always buy only slaves who speak different languages. The slaves then created the new language.
Haiti is the one only independent French-speaking State of Latin America. The languages ​​of the indigenous people are extinct.

Translation of the print on the T-shirt:
January 12 (the day of the 2010 earthquake)
– VMany women have died
But we will not give up – Haiti is not a hopeless case

time of day

The time in Haiti is 7 hours behind our time. So if it’s 12 o’clock in the morning, it’s 5 o’clock in Haiti.

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