Eight Months

Today marks eight months since the earthquake of January 12th. The real tragedy is how little has changed. Though there is some work being done to clear rubble and many shelters have been built, as you drive down the street you continue to see broken buildings and everywhere, everywhere, tents. Today I talked to a friend, A., who has been working directly with people in tent cities. She spoke of one woman in particular who used to be a seamstress, but her sewing machine was crushed in the earthquake and now she has no way of earning money to support herself and her four children. Her husband died several years ago. She can't even search through the ruins of her house, because other houses fell on top of hers. If life is impossible for people with skills, imagine those who had no job even before the earthquake and no training of any kind. What is their future? And yet A. said that people are not giving up; they do not despair. They keep looking for food each day, looking for ways to take care of their families.

Here is an article describing some of the challenges still facing Haiti. It feels as though the world has moved on, as though those weeks of deep grief across the globe for Haiti's suffering are a long-ago memory. And here, people settle down to their new lives.