Wednesday, January 12, 2011

One Year Anniversary of The Earthquake

The day was full of Catholic Mass - about 5 hours total and 7 hours in the last 24 hours. But the occasion called for it; today is the one year anniversary of the Haiti earthquake. It's been a rather emotionally and physically draining day for everyone involved. But I'll post some pictures and try to give an idea of what occurred.

We started the morning heading into downtown Port-au-Prince for the first time. This gave us a chance to see the collapsed Palace, former home of the President of Haiti.


We took this trip in the back of a flatbed truck again. The magnitude of the wreckage didn't strike me at the time but when I looked through the pictures, I was shocked at how destructive the quake was.



The main ceremony today was in front of the Notre-Dame Cathedral that mostly collapsed last January. About 80,000 or so people showed up for the mass, which was presided over by Cardinal Robert Sarah, many who sat on the wreckage of the collapsed Cathedral.

Wyclef Jean, once-hopeful Haitian president candidate and musician, walks amongst his people.

The one thing that did stick out was the insane amount of media that was present. It was hard sometimes to see the true emotions of the mourning Haitians with all the reporters.

Rachel and I climbed up the towers of the Cathedral - about 4 stories - to look down on the crowd. The remains are truly amazing. Solid chunks of bricks are hanging by a few bands of re bar and when the wind blows, pieces of the stained glass fall from the above windows.

The huge crowds below us with Port-au-Prince in the background. The water and the view is so amazing despite the utter filth that is the city.

A Haitian surveys the wreckage. Many people I talked to had not actually been to the rubble since the earthquake. They were as amazed as we were.
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In honor of the victims of the quake, especially Molly Hightower, my good friends at Happy Hour Honeys put together an amazing happy hour review today. Please check it out, make some of the featured drinks, and raise your glass in memory of Molly and all those who lost their lives a year ago in Haiti.

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