Four Months

Today it has been four months since the lives of millions of people were changed by the earthquake in Haiti.

We still do not know exactly how many people lost their lives; we will never know. We mourn them all.

Two million people, more or less, live in temporary housing, and the word "housing" is a generous one for the arrangements most of them have. Take a look at this photo essay showing a rainy evening in one tent city, this one right across from the Palais National, also demolished in the quake. And the hurricane season will begin in less than a month.

Amputees struggle to get used to their new lives in a country where it's challenging enough to get around if you are able-bodied and where there are no jobs for anyone, let alone the disabled.

Livelihoods are gone and business people wonder what is next. How will they feed their families, educate their children, pay their employees so that they can feed their families and educate their children?

People around the world have taken in refugee friends and family - the lucky ones who were able to leave. Parents are making decisions about next school year and whether their kids will go home to Haiti or not.

All of us want to get back to our normal lives, but we recognize that the normal that we knew is not coming back.

Haitians are "battered but buoyant," says this article.