Sadness, pain, hope as Haiti remembers quake victims (Feature)

By Franz Smets Jan 12, 2011, 18:49 GMT

Port-au-Prince/Mexico City - All of Haiti is in mourning: those who survived last year's devastating quake gathered Wednesday in the churches, cemeteries and mass graves of their cities and towns.

The January 12, 2010 quake claimed an estimated 222,000 lives and devastated the capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as Carrefour, Leogane, Petit Goave, Jacqmel and many other towns and villages.

The disaster was nearly a final blow to a country that was already the poorest in the Americas after being plundered for decades by a corrupt elite. Beyond the dead, more than 300,000 people were injured and 2.3 million were displaced from their homes, in figures that the UN Stabilization Mission for Haiti (MINUSTAH) made public Tuesday.

After the quake, there were other deadly disasters, as mudslides and storms threatened those living in precarious makeshift camps. And over the past three months an epidemic of cholera, which had not affected Haiti for many decades, claimed more than 3,700 lives in the Caribbean country.

It is no wonder that many of the reports of aid organizations sound disappointing a year after the quake. They give the impression that hardly anything has been achieved at all: Port-au-Prince is nearly as rubble-strewn as it was in the days after the quake.

The United Nations and aid organizations have mapped out a decade- long process for reconstruction of Haiti.

And yet the anniversary of the disaster also allowed for some hope.

In the early morning, thousands of people attended a funeral service in the ruins of the cathedral in central Port-au-Prince. Dressed in white, people sought comfort at a site that has become a symbol of the great pain that swamped Haiti a year ago.

All archbishops and bishops in Haiti conducted mass together, and the service was attended among others by Haitian presidential candidate Mirlande Manigat and by Haitian-American rapper Wyclef Jean.

'Lord, remember your suffering people,' said a prayer made public Wednesday. 'Protect us and give us strength so that we can rebuilt the former city for God and man to be at home.'

The prayer was written by Cap Haitien archbishop François Gayot, who died in December.

And Haitians appeared to be emerging from their state of shock.

Resolution of a bitter post-presidential-election appeared to be on the horizon as the Organization of American States (OAS) prepared to present its report to the government of Haiti in the coming days. A US official, Thomas Adams, confirmed Tuesday that the OAS team found 'a lot of fraud.'

According to a leaked version of the draft report, the runoff will likely pit Manigat against popular musician Michel Martelly instead of against a ruling party candidate.

A new government would give renewed boost to rebuilding.

On the cholera front, there is also hope. The number of new deaths and infections have slowed down. At the height of the epidemic in mid-December up to 60 people were dying everyday, a figure that has dropped to 13 according to the Haitian Health Ministry.

On the symbolic front too, the historic Iron Market in central Port-au-Prince has been rebuilt and will soon be open again. According to the website of cellphone operator Digicel, whose owner, Irish entrepreneur Denis O'Brien, has sponsored the project, it is 'the first public building to have been completely restored since the devastating January 12th earthquake.'

Read more about Haiti Disasters