They came together in joy, not in sorrow.
Thousands of Haitians, many of them smiling, gathered Friday at the center of Port-au-Prince exactly one month after the 7.0-magnitude quake of January 12 leveled most of their capital city, to remember the lives of the loved ones lost. A virtual sea of people waved their arms in the air, praying, crying, singing and even dancing, in a makeshift memorial that, even in the midst of tragedy, showed the resilience of the Haitian people.
The memorial took place nearby the ruins of the stately National Palace, close to where the Champ de Mars Square has been turned into a huge homeless camp. Other memorials also took place throughout the Caribbean nation, some even in shantytowns and some including religious observations. Haitians were urged to and did wear black or white out of respect for the lives lost.
