Haiti mourns dead, looks ahead.

Haitians commemorated the
first anniversary of the
devastating quake with
memorials, prayer vigils and
questions about their future.
It was a rare quiet time -- 35 seconds -- for this
boisterous city normally filled with the sounds of
the almost one million people who live on the
street.
Some marked this painful anniversary in bed, the
hurt of memories of the 7.0 earthquake that killed
so many a year ago too much to bear. Others
visited cemeteries and mass graves where tiny
wooden crosses mark the barren land where
200,000 of the estimated 300,000 people who
died now lay.
From New York, Washington and Miami to Port-
au-Prince, Haitians set Jan. 12 aside to grieve, to
pray and celebrate life. But among the prayer
vigils, memorials and beating of drums, Haitians
also looked ahead, envisioning a future that
includes more hospitals and schools, clean water
and homes. Many mourners questioned why it
was taking so long for Haiti to rise up from its
ashes.
``One year later, we're still asking: Where is the
road map for development?'' said Marleine
Bastien, director of Haitian Women of Miami, who
attended a memorial at Miami-Dade county hall.
As throngs of Haitians gathered in downtown
Port-au-Prince in prayer and song, former U.S.
President Bill Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister
Jean-Max Bellerive -- the nation's reconstruction
czars -- met with reporters to offer a guardedly
optimistic view of the country's future.
``We still have a lot to do,'' Bellerive said. ``We
want to concentrate on building a new Haiti, not
just what existed before.''
It's easy to see what hasn't been done, they said:
810,000 homeless people are living under tarps,
and piles of rubble that the United Nations says
could fill 8,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools
still dot the urban landscape.
The results of November's presidential election
are still in dispute.
SOME PROGRESS
But some 50,000 families now have access to
potable water, 106 million cubic feet of debris
have been removed, and children have returned
to school, the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission
co-chairs said.
Bellerive stressed the need for jobs, saying that
Haiti does not have the means to provide every
quake victim with a free house. ``Before you can
talk about housing, you have to talk about a job,''
Bellerive said.
A year ago Wednesday, a 7.0 earthquake killed a
city's worth of people. The quake took United
Nations peace keepers, college students and at
least 130 American citizens. It took so many
Haitian adults and children that their names have
not been logged, and some are still under debris.
Haitians declared Wednesday a national holiday
and took time to remember, mourn and give
thanks.
``Everything can stand strong again,'' said Alceu
Petit, 69, who lost three children, a cousin and
uncle to the quake. ``Everybody here is
persevering.''
Hundreds of white-clad mourners -- many
weeping, some shrieking with grief -- gathered
for a special Mass on Wednesday morning at the
base of the battered Notre Dame Cathedral. On
the Champs de Mars public plaza where
thousands of families now live, tens of thousands
of Protestants gathered as pastor after pastor told
the crowd to celebrate life.
``God saved my life and that of most of my
family,'' said Bernard Valcin, 40, who dropped by
the Champs de Mars before heading home to the
tent where he lives with his wife and three
children. ``I want to thank him for what he's
done for me.''
But he still can't afford the $1,250 annually it costs
for a one-room shack, and he wonders what
happened to the aid Haiti was promised.


Source: Http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/12/2013687/haiti-mourns-dead-looks-ahead.html