I lived six months per year in  a community in DR  for 10 years that was 20% haitian .  The average DR citizen is very poor...they often cannot afford to send their children to school as they cannot afford to buy the required school outfits or the books. The haitians are much poorer with even less education. The haitians do however have pride...they were incensed with Canada and US relief $ when the earthquake went through as they saw it as an affront to their culture. The haitian kids I talked to were deemed as being. illegal immigrants. Their parents did not want them as there were too many mouths to feed, DR did not want them as they did not meet DR immigration rules...you need to have sufficient net worth to ensure the DR gov that you will not require social assistance.