Haiti
Mary’s Meals provides meals to more than 175,000 children every school day in Haiti.
Published onLife in Haiti
Haiti is ranked 163 out of 191 countries and territories in the Human Development Index (HDI). Located in North America, it shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. Haiti is 27,750 square kilometres in size, making it the third largest country in the Caribbean by area.
Haiti is the most populous country in the Caribbean, with around 11.4 million inhabitants. It is also one of the poorest nations on earth and the only low-income country in the Americas.
Malnutrition is widespread, owing to chronic food insecurity, and a persistent onslaught of natural disasters has greatly impacted people's ability to sustain a livelihood. It is estimated that 4.5 million people in Haiti do not have enough to eat and more than half a million of the country’s children are estimated to be out of school.
Haiti has experienced multiple natural disasters in recent decades, including storms, floods, landslides, drought, and the devastating earthquakes and hurricanes that rocked the country in 2010, 2016 and 2021. Haiti is still recovering from these events. On the 2021 Climate Risk Index, Haiti is third among the countries most affected by extreme weather events from 2000 to 2019.
Political instability, food shortages, unemployment, and extreme weather have kept most Haitians locked in a cycle of poverty for generations.
Mary's Meals in Haiti
We have been serving school meals in Haiti since 2006.
We work closely with three local partners – Caritas Hinche, Summits Education, and Bureau de Nutrition et Développement (BND) – to bring much-needed school meals to vulnerable Haitian children within a challenging context with considerable logistical and security challenges.
We serve our meals both rural and urban schools in areas of great need and the programme delivery is supported by hundreds of dedicated community volunteers.
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- When did we start working in Haiti?
Mary’s Meals has been providing meals in Haiti since 2006
- How many children do we feed in Haiti?
Mary’s Meals provides meals to more than 175,000 children every school day in Haiti.
- What meal do we provide?
Typical school meal is maize and beans, or rice and beans with a sauce made from vegetables or fish.
- Where are we based/where do we operate?
We serve meals to children in the remote and under-developed Central Plateau Region, as well as in high-risk urban slum areas in and around the capital, Port-au-Prince.
- What is the capital of Haiti?
The capital city of Haiti is Port-au-Prince
- What language(s) are spoken in Haiti?
The official languages of Haiti are Haitian Creole and French. Other spoken languages include Spanish and English
- What currency is used in Haiti?
The Gourde or Goud (HTG)
- What is the population of Haiti?
The population of Haiti is 11,542,550
