Death Comes Slowly but Early

7th February 2017

We received sad news yesterday that an employee of one of the 6 schools under Sr. Rose’s authority in Jean Rabel had died in the local hospital.

He was only 52 years of age, but since he was admitted only 2 weeks ago everyone knew he wouldn’t last very long. He was severely ill and death for him must be a release and a relief, he could not have hung on any longer. This man’s wife is already a number of years dead, so she must have been very young when she died. They had a large family (as many do here in Jean Rabel) who are mostly grown up or at least in their teenage years, but what a loss to be left orphaned while still in school.

The average life expectancy in Haiti is a mere 63.8 years (61.2 for men and 66.4 for women). Some of us would describe a person of such an age as being ‘young’ or ‘in their prime’ but for the majority of people in Haiti they might never see their 65th birthday. Only 9% of the total population is over 55 years of age. Over 50% are under 24 years of age and 33% are under 14 years.