What happens when you grow old in Haiti and your children don't want to take care of you?

Alcima Fenelus - One of the Oldest Women in the World, Lives in Haiti

I was watching a documentary about how many old people in Japan live lonely lives and dying alone. "It seems that traditional family unit of past time and the support it provided is slowly fading away," one Japanese doctor said.

So it made me think: How is the family unit in the Haitian community, both in Haiti and in the Haitian diaspora?

I once saw an old Haitian lady begging in the streets in my neighborhood in Haiti and a neighbor said she has grown kids who are doing very well in town. So why is she begging in the streets?

I know that in the diaspora, often times, some family members are kind of distant from each other, a few hours away, many times a few states away, but we do stay in touch whenever we can.

But what about the elderly? The old and retired Haitians, can they rely on their children in their old age?

You know and Haiti, are no retirement homes. So what if a elderly is suddenly unable to take care of himself? What happens to him?

"In Japan children don't take care of their parents anymore," doctor Shinzoh Kudoh said, "so these old people have to do everything for themselves. You can't rely on your family anymore."

"If this continues, the elderly will be living out their lives alone," he said.

What about Haiti, what is life like for the elderly?

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