 Art Creation Foundation
For ChildrenARTS EDUCATION - SCHOOL - FOOD - HEALTH CARE - LOVE
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 ABOUT HAITI AND ART I have been traveling in and out of Haiti since 1997! The places that I have visited and the things that I have seen probably account for my inability to sleep or stay still. Every time I begin to remotely feel sorry for myself and feel that things are too stressful or tough, I think that I could be one of the mothers in Haiti who carries 5 gallons of water on her head all day, comes home to a screaming infant and two more starving children to begin phase two of her already difficult life. Phase two consists of taking her paltry sum of money and buying a cup of rice or a couple of tablespoons of oil to make food for children who have been abandoned all day, fending for their own survival. Visualizing this makes me realize that I have plenty of food in the refrigerator, and if my biggest complaint is that traffic was insane or that a shipment was late, then I need to just regroup and move forward!
In the many years that I have been going to Haiti, I have felt that very little can be done to change the downward spiral in which this country is plummeting. However, I feel that it is possible to change and help one life at a time. The children in Haiti are the ones who suffer the most. Poverty robs these beautiful children of their innocence and youth as they fight for daily survival and still go to bed hungry! Many sleep on the streets. It's an absolute nightmare to see what goes on in this country. It is a bold statement to say that it would be wrong if someone could actually go to Haiti and not feel a burning desire to make a difference. Haiti is just under two hours by air from Miami. It is unfathomable and unacceptable that such poverty should exist, especially being so close geographically to the affluence of the United States.
As stated earlier, there are approximately 8.3 million people in Haiti. I wonder how many of those are children? For now lets all help one child at a time, the 24 in our foundation. The more support we have, the more children we can help.
Sandra Renteria |
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Haiti has been crippled so badly over the past 8 years due to reduced foreign aid and a political stalemate that there seems to be no way out! Per capita income is low, $125 US per year. Statistics show that malnutrition afflicts two-thirds of the 8.3 million people, of whom at least 75% are illiterate (data shows that 55% are illiterate but that seems low). The national currency, the gourd, has lost half its value and foreign investment has disappeared, even with a labor force eager to work for sweatshop wages. As if Haiti does not have enough problems, the country also faces deforestation problems which has resulted in mudslides. Charcoal is used for cooking and this fuel is becoming more scarce. (Just as a heads up, there is very little electricity in Haiti!) All in all, as you can see, Haiti has an insurmountable amount of problems.
Art in Haiti is a very important foundation that provides a means of survival to a large number of people. Unlike artists in the United States who may be referred to as "starving artists:" because they have not "made it," Haitian artists are considered the strong middle class of the Haitian socio-economic structure. Artists are to Haiti what accountants and engineers are to the United States. Their existence creates a trickle down effect, impacting up to 50 to 100 people in a community; each artist assists to provide stability by having the money to buy food from a local vendor, fabric to be used as canvas from a neighbor, etc. Almost all Haitian artists are men. Women maintain a lower status, doing most of the hard physical labor for day-to-day existence.
