Accessibility

Image of Gerald Oriol, Haiti’s Secretary of State. Sourced from https://www.caribjournal.com/2012/09/10/haiti-seeks-progress-on-treatment-of-countrys-disabled-population/#

We know that the economic state of Haiti is among the poorest in the world. We also know and recognize that people with disabilities in Haiti have a horrible stigma attached to them, often times being referred to as “cocobai”.  A Creole word that translates to “worthless.”  It should come with little surprise to learn that accessibility for persons living with disabilities is severely limited in all facets.

When you compound the limited amount of resources with the state of poverty the majority of individuals with disabilities live in, often times even their basic needs are not being met. Needs, such as, water, food, and shelter. With limited rehabilitation professionals assistive technologies are limited and challenging to get.  While international organizations and non-profits are doing there best to fill the gaps, the responsibility will eventually fall on the nation to fill these gaps and fit the needs and demands of Haiti’s culture and environment.

Due to higher rates of unemployment among the population of Haitians living with disabilities, most are unable to afford assistive technology and related services, including mobility devices.  In addition to the cost of services, what little is offered is found within the nation’s populated cities, leaving those who desperately need services to overcome the barrier of transportation, which few are able to do.

 

 

 

“Only 2% of people with a disability in the developing world have access to appropriate health care and rehabilitation.”

– World Health Organization

 

Healthcare

Like much of Haiti’s infrastructure, healthcare systems struggle with instability and inadequacy all the same. This is not due to a lack of hospitals, but rather a lack of financial investment in order for the nation’s people to receive quality care. According to a report published by World Bank, the annual per capita public health spending is just $13. That is a 4.4% public investment in
healthcare. This makes Haiti the lowest ranking country in the Western Hemisphere in terms of healthcare spending.

In 2013, out of 786 primary care facilities, only 332 were classified as good and accessible.  With 91% of the population living within 5km of a facility, only approximately 23% [including 5% of the rural population] had access to primary care.

 

Advocacy

Many services and resources available to Haitians with disabilities come from international religious and non-profit organizations.  Due to Haiti’s political and economic instability combined with crippling natural disasters the country relies heavily on international organizations to provide rehabilitation, healthcare, educational, and disaster relief services.

PAZAPA
www.pazapa.org

PAZAPA is located in Jacmel, Southeastern Haiti, and is supported by the efforts of CASS in Canada and the Siloé Project in the US.
PAZAPA offers a variety of comprehensive programs for children including specialized medical care, inclusive education, family support, accessibility, outreach, advocacy, and art.

humanity & inclusion
www.hi-us.org

Humanity & Inclusion, formerly known as Handicap International, is an organization working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. They not only provide services and advocacy in disaster preparedness and response, accessibility and transportation, universal design and case-management, training rehabilitation professionals, rehabilitation, child protection, and social and economic inclusion, but also employment opportunities for locals.

 

Haiti Rehab Project
www.haitirehabproject.org

The Haiti Rehab Project is a non-profit organization whose mission is to support rehabilitation and medical clinics, orphanages, families, and outreach programs for Haitian’s with disabilities. They operate a rehab clinic in Gonaives, community based rehabilitation outside of Port-au-Prince, a mobility device program, and adaptive sports programs. The organization also owns and operates The Shop, a local business where Haitian’s with disabilities are employed and trained to craft various mobility devices.

 

Love A Child, Inc.
www.loveachild.com

Love A Child has built 18 schools, 18 churches, offers an emergency feeding program, operations a food distribution center the size of a football field, has built and furnished 500 single family homes, owns and operates the Jesus Healing Center, the Malnutrition Center, and has a mobile medical clinic, and has an orphanage in Fond Parisien.  In addition, the organization runs a sustainability initiative where they set the people of Haiti up for continued success through classes and training in any of their 6 programs; Agricultural Training, The Marketplace, Poul Mirak Co-operatif (Miracle Chicke Co-op), Appropriate Technologies, Edible Plant Nursery, and Reforestation. The also work towards industrial development through a chicken farm located near the orphanage and a tilapia fish farm and training center located within the Love A Child Village.

 

 

 

Works Cited

Lezzoni, L. I., & Ronan, L. J. (2010, June 15). Disability legacy of the Haitian earthquake. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20231547

Haiti Seeks Progress on Treatment of Country’s Disabled Population. (2012, September 11). Retrieved from https://www.caribjournal.com/2012/09/10/haiti-seeks-progress-on-treatment-of-countrys-disabled-population/#

Mobility Devices for Haiti. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://haitirehabproject.org/mobility-devices-haiti/

Young, N. (2018, September 26). Haiti’s Troubled Healthcare System. Retrieved from https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2017/06/30/haitis-troubled-healthcare-system/

Health in Haiti. (2018, October 18). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_in_Haiti

Haiti’s struggling healthcare system. (2017, July 05). Retrieved from https://newint.org/blog/2013/02/25/haiti-healthcare