Education is the key to escaping poverty. We school 400 kids Situation Analysis Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with median per capita income estimated at less than $400 (US). Less than five percent of the Haitian population controls more than 70 percent of the country’s resources, while the “middle class” controls 20 percent and the remainder has no regular, stable resources. Unemployment hovers at 85 percent nationwide, causing more and more people to flock to the overcrowded capital in search of opportunity. Rising inflation, decreased international aid and political instability have added to the depressed economic situation; most live well below sustenance levels. Although a majority of Haitians are illiterate (some estimates are as high as 85 percent of