From the information provided in the History and Culture of Haiti link, we understand that the Haitian government has been greatly hampered in its efforts to educate the masses, and that religious and charitable organizations and Haitian Christians have stepped into the gap in large numbers.  The poverty level is so acute that many Haitians have labelled themselves "4th world" citizens. The poverty combined with governmental instability have together produced the highest illiteracy rate in the Western Hemisphere.

 

Many Haitians have fled the island to North America, other Caribbean islands, and across the border into the Dominican Republic where conditions are little if any better than in their homeland.  ACSI has visited Haitian encampments in the Dominican Republic in an effort to serve them as well, especially when Haiti itself is too unstable for our Education Teams to hold conferences.