1. 80% of Haitians live under the poverty line and 54% live in abject poverty.  The average per capita income in Haiti is $480 a year, compared to $33,550 in the United States.

2. Because of both violence and AIDS, Haiti has the highest percentage of orphans of any country in the Western Hemisphere. Before the 2010 earthquake, United Nations estimated there were 430,000 orphans.

3. Even before 2010, only 54% of Haitians had access to sanitation facilities (toilets, indoor plumbing, sewer systems). Less than half had a regular source of safe drinking water.

4. Most rivers in Haiti are polluted with human and other waste.  Diseases such as hookworm and typhoid, which are transmitted by contaminated water, are common in Haiti.

5. A typical worker in Haiti makes only $2.75 a day. About 70% do not have regular jobs.

6. Only 53% of Haitians can read and write.

7. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.

8. Only about 10% of all Haitian children enrolled in elementary school go on to high school.

9. Haiti is one of the few countries in the world where the destruction of the original woodland is almost complete.

10. Nearly 79% of Haiti’s people live in rural areas.

11. In Haiti, there is one hospital bed for every 10,000 inhabitants. There are only about eight doctors and 10 nurses for every 100,000 inhabitants.

12. The life expectancy is low: 50 years for men and 53 years for women.

13. Haitians have a very low caloric intake, which has led to chronic and often fatal diseases. An estimated 25-40% of children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition.

14. Anemia affects 59% of Haitian children between six months and five years.

15. Families that live in the country spend almost 60% of their income on food.  The poorest spend almost 70%.

16. Infant mortality rate in Haiti is high at 74 deaths per 1,000 births. The maternal mortality rate is high also: 520 deaths per 100,000 births.

17. More than 10% of the children die before age five.