Haiti mourns one month on

13 Feb 2010, 6:26 am   -   Source: Agencies
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A man prays, and weeps, during a national day of mourning outside the national palace. (AP)

A man prays, and weeps, during a national day of mourning outside the national palace. (AP)

Haiti's embattled President Rene Preval has vowed "Haiti will not die" in a televised ceremony to mark one month since a powerful earthquake struck the country.

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Haiti's embattled President Rene Preval has vowed "Haiti will not die, Haiti must not die" in a televised ceremony to mark one month since a powerful earthquake struck the country.

Dressed in white with a black arm band, Preval spoke on Friday at one of the memorial services held around Port-au-Prince, pledging that his nation will recover from the devastating quake that killed 217,000 people.

"Wipe away your tears to rebuild Haiti," he urged his people, presenting himself as a simple citizen of a nation in need.

"Today, allow me as citizen Rene Preval, the man, the father of a family, to address you to say that I cannot find the words to speak of this immense pain," he said. "It is in your courage that we will find the strength to go on."

Describing the first scenes of chaos he saw in the capital on January 12 when the quake struck just before dusk, he told of the "overwhelming destruction, the bodies in the streets".

And he said Haitians will continue to call for help from the international community for the quake victims.

"We will bury our dead with dignity, Haitian people, your courage, your strength will encourage the government to work. We offer you our thanks."

Even as the Caribbean nation mourned its dead, Preval spared a thought for UN special envoy to Haiti and former US president Bill Clinton, who underwent a procedure on Thursday to clear a blocked artery after suffering chest pains.

"We are thinking of him, and his family, for he was with us in our distress," the Haitian leader said.

Haitians remember

The government declared Friday a day of mourning as many businesses shuttered and most of Port-au-Prince's normally bustling streets were quiet except for the echoes of memorial services.
  
However, streets leading to gatherings filled with throngs of people traveling by foot, taxi and motorbike to take part in a spectacular outpouring of emotion.
  
"All the religions of Haiti -- Voodoo, Catholics, Baptists, Protestants, we are all gathered here to pray," a preacher in the Champ de Mars said into a microphone. "The Haitian people may be poor, but they are richest in the world in grace and spirit."
  
About 45 minutes outside the capital, at Titanyen, where thousands of quake victims were buried in mass graves, there was silence, but for a few mourners.
  
Three men pulled up in a white truck at the desolate site between denuded hills and the Caribbean Sea, one carrying a small Haitian flag, to pay their respects.
  
"We came here to do something for the memory of the dead," said Joseph Gesner Saint Louis, 35, adding proudly "we are Haitians."

Washington says situation remains 'dire'

Meanwhile, The White House warned  that the situation in Haiti one month after an earthquake devastated the capital "remains dire" ahead of potentially disastrous rains in the coming months.
  
"The situation remains dire... the need for food, shelter, medical supplies and basic security is enormous, and the coming rainy season will pose new challenges," press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement.

1.2 million were left homeless by the January 12 quake, which destroyed large parts of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince and crippled its institutions.
  
"Infrastructure that was destroyed in minutes will take years to rebuild," Gibbs noted, but pledged that "the United States continues to stand with our Haitian friends as they recover."
  
The people of Haiti, the White House said, have "amidst unimaginable suffering... inspired the world with their faith, strength of spirit and determination to rebuild.
  
"In the difficult months and years to come, they will continue to have a friend and partner in the United States of America."
  
There are over 15,000 US military personnel stationed in Haiti or off its coast, although the mission has been reduced as teams trained to deal with the immediate aftermath of the quake left the country.
 

 

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