Although it is only 600 miles off the coast of Florida, Haiti is often viewed as a forgotten nation.  Conditions there are often described as the “worst in the western hemisphere”.  Annual per capita income is less than $400 and average life expectancy is about 55 years.  The statistics are numbing.

Please take time to use our links to learn more about Haiti.

So many travelers to Mirebalais and Haiti are struck by the remedial conditions there.  Susan Jones, a registered nurse who participated in a recent mission trip, shared her feelings:

“I found myself feeling very overwhelmed by the strife and suffering, beyond what we can imagine,    and trying to bring that home to the people we care about.”

Haiti has remained the least-developed country in the Americas. Comparative social and economic indicators show Haiti falling behind other low-income developing countries (particularly in the hemisphere) since the 1980s.

Haiti now ranks 146th of 177 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index (2006). About 80% of the population were estimated to be living in poverty in 2003. Haiti is the only country in the Americas on the United Nations list of Least Developed Countries. Economic growth was negative in 2001 and 2002, and flat in 2003.

About 66% of all Haitians work in the agricultural sector, which consists mainly of small-scale subsistence farming,but this activity makes up only 30% of the GDP. The country has experienced little formal job creation over the past decade, although the informal economy is growing. Mangoes and coffee are two of Haiti's most important exports. It has consistently ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world on the Corruption Perceptions Index.

Source: Link