Health and Education
Skolnik reports that health and education are linked in three ways: "Health and education of parents affects health and education of children," "malnutrition and disease affect cognitive development and school performance of children," and "education enables people to better prevent and manage illness" (Skolnik, 2019)
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Research has shown that children's health relates to maternal education and wealth levels. In fact, 15 percent of children born from mothers with secondary education are stunted, while the prevalence rises to 32 percent for children born from mothers that have no formal education ("Haiti: Nutrition Profile", 2021). This shows that those children who are born from educated women tend to suffer less from malnutrition which is described as underweight, wasting and stunting in children. Additionally, other studies suggest that educated women have greater ability in recognizing illnesses, seeking treatment, reading medical instructions, and applying medical treatment (Abuya et al, 2012). Hence, maternal education has been associated with nutrition outcomes among children in various places including Haiti.
("For Haiti's Health Care, a Virtual Boost - Caribbean Journal", n.d.)
(Skolnik, 2019)
This graph shows how educated mothers are more likely to immunize their child in selected countries including Haiti.
Education: a major challenge in haiti
("Haiti: The Need For Education", n.d.)
It is reported that 50% of children do not attend school and Haiti’s literacy rate is 61% – 64% for males and 57% for females ("Haiti Statistics", 2015). ​One of the major issues that causes illiteracy is their high drop out rate. An article reports that in 2019, "Some 10% of Haitian students drop out before Grade 6 of basic education and 40% before the end of Grade 9 (the last grade)"("Dropping", 2020). Furthermore, in an interview, Erick Derius, a former school headmaster, states "85% of our education system is privately owned. This means that the majority of schools are fee-paying. Parents have to pay the registration fees, buy uniforms, books, etc. With poverty, students cannot find everything they need to go to school and follow their education. This generates a lot of repetition. Repetition is also a major cause of dropping out of school"("Dropping", 2020).
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Aside from high fees, distance is also a problem. Robenson Claude, a coordinator for SOS Children's Villages, tells “there are kids in Haiti, that, to have access to education, must walk 15 to 20 kilometres every day to go to school" ("Haiti: The Need For Education", n.d.)
Other related causes of school dropout in Haiti include the country's political instability, teacher lack of qualification, run-down school premises, and the language barrier in a country where Creole sometimes prevails over French in the home ("Haiti Statistics", 2015).
Malnutrition
"Hunger can have physical and psychological effects on young people that make learning substantially difficult" (Walthouse, 2014)
(Walthouse, 2014)
Food provide us the fuel to get through the day. Even the brain requires adequate amount of energy to function. Hence, without it, students have a higher tendency to fall asleep in school, have memory problems, or not pay attention to class. Skolnik writes "A number of forms of malnutrition contribute to the failure of infants and children to grow or to achieve their full mental potential" (2019). Also, Walthouse claims that "malnutrition can tamper with sleeping patterns as well, making a child too tired to get anything out of a full day of school" (2014). In relation, Jean Gough, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, states "Well-nourished, healthy, and vaccinated children will get better grades at school and become more productive adults. Building Haiti’s future in the long run starts by curbing chronic malnutrition now” ("Haiti: funding gap", 2021).
Unfortunately, study suggest that "approximately 40 percent of the country is malnourished and one in five children is malnourished" (2014). Furthermore, according to UNICEF, "over 86,000 Haitian children under five are projected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year, compared to 41,000 children last year and could die if they don’t get urgent assistance" ("Haiti: funding gap", 2021). This is more than twice the number of children compared to last year.
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Malnutrition and food insecurity in Haiti are caused by various reasons including poverty, lack of access to clean water, unhygienic environments combined with recurrent natural disasters, rising violence, and pandemic ("Haiti: Nutrition Profile", 2021)​
Help & Progress
Hands up for Haiti is one nonprofit that is aiming to reduce issues surrounding nutrition in three different ways:
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Medika Mamba: a nutritional pill that is primarily nut-based and is high in calories. The pill is provided to 600 children each year on the bases of medical evaluation.
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Educational programs: these helps local learn how to grow small plots of food to support their families. that teach locals how to grow small plots of food to support their families.
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Centers with professionally trained medics to treat illnesses relating to malnutrition.​
("Haiti: Nutrition Profile", 2021)
Sadly, the prevalence of stunting among children under 5 years old have made no progress and remains the same from 2012 to 2017. There is also very little change in the prevalence of underweight and wasting among children under 5 years.