"Haiti" A World Of Poverty

Mom, I want to go to the movies!
Dad, I want to eat McDonalds!
Mom, buy me a new video game!
These are some of the things you would hear from todays kids. Are we spoiled? Yes! Do we have everything we can imagine? Yes! Do we ever stop to think about others who have less? No!

'Haiti' is a World Of Poverty. My mom has always wanted to go to Haiti. Not because there are beautiful scenes, but because she wants to help the poor. Did you know in Haiti 17% of the children will not reach the age of one and 13% of children will not live long enough to have their fifth birthday.

There is not enough food and clean water for everyone. Can you imagine waking up starving and not knowing if you are going to have a meal. Can you imagine going through the garbages on the sides of the road to find something to eat.

It is so bad that the Haitian people make mud pies, dry them out in the sun and feed it to the children to stop the hunger pains.Think that's bad. Imagine having no clean running water and no washrooms. In Haiti the poor do there necessities in bags and throw it outside. There are no landfills there either. All garbage is thrown out along side of the roads and ditches. Think about it. The smell and having to breath that terrible pollution. Yep, how lucky are we to live in here in Canada.

Diseases are everywhere in Haiti and with very little medical care, hundreds suffer with pain and die a slow death. Some of their homes are considered shacks. The frame is made out of twigs and then scrap metal is used for the roof and walls. The floors are dirt, not cement. A family of 4 to 6 share a two room shack. Do you enjoy your warm bed at night?

You know how we enjoy turning on the T.V. and turning on the lights and forgetting to turn them off again? Well in Haiti there is very little electrical power. The electricity comes on for a couple of hours in the evening and then it is turned off at night, and the Haitian people are left in the dark.

The children there play with what ever they can find. Their favourite pass time is playing soccer with an empty tin can. On many hot sunny days the kids swim in a ditch of dirty water. How can this be and why? Well, the government in Haiti has to many political problems and as the saying goes "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer."

But with all of this sadness the people of Haiti are joyful. Joyful because they are alive and believe in their faith. If you were there you would probably start crying and feel sorry for them. I know I did when I saw the pictures of Haiti and it's people. How do they survive?

You know the next time you are complaining about what mom made for supper or whining about that $60 dollar video game that you didn't get. Why don't you STOP! Take a look around and remember the less fortunate...... Remember 'Haiti' A World Of Poverty.

BY: Vanessa Tavares

Grade 7, St. Louis School

Janurary - 2004