Today's Haiti, once a thriving producer of much of the world's coffee and sugar, has seen its economy, society, institutions and its democracy destroyed by a succession of dictators.

Haiti, a country of over eight million people no longer has any functioning infrastructure for industry, farming, health or education.

Unemployment exceeds 70%; families struggle every day to find food and they often live in tattered cardboard houses. There is widespread suffering from severe malnutrition and resulting diseases. The infant mortality rate is one in ten. Health services are overwhelmingly lacking, and years of neglect of schools has resulted in illiteracy rates exceeding 60%. Even safe drinking water is available to only 13% of the population.