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Life in Haiti
Haiti has a long and hard history that has created many difficulties for the people of this island.
The following statistics indicate the severity of Haiti's problem:
- The poorest country in the world
- Haiti is the third hungriest country in the world after Somalia and Afghanistan
- The richest 1% of the population controls nearly half of all of Haiti's wealth
- Haiti ranks 38th out of 195 for under-five mortality rate
- Ranks 146 out of 173 on the United Nations' Human Development Index
- Adult literacy is about 40%
- Unemployment is 70%
- More than half of Haitians live on less than a dollar a day.
- About 70% of the population lives in abject poverty.
- Less than 20% of Haitians age 15 and over can read and write.
- Fewer than 75% of children attend school.
- The government is not able to provide the resources to educate the nation's next generation.
- There are few paved roads, an inadequate supply of potable water, minimal utilities, and depleted forests.
- 7% or more Haitian children won't make it to 5 years old
- Over a million children are HIV infected and or dying of AIDS as you are reading this.
Why Dental Care?
Population of Wisconsin: 5,711,767
Population of Haiti: 10,000,000
Number of dentists in Wisconsin: 2979
Number of dentists in Haiti: estimated at 100-600