• Submitted by: manso
• International
• 01 / 13 / 2011

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2011.01.12 - 21:41:17 / [email protected], Cuba.- Haiti made a halt on its busy life today to pay homage to the more than 220 000 people who died a year ago as a result of the January 12, 2010, earthquake.

Thousands of Haitians dressed in white assisted to masses performed in different areas hit by the 7.3 earthquake on the Richter scale.

One of the main services was carried out in the area where the Puerto Principe Cathedral used to stand. The ceremony was attended by Cardinal Robert Sarah, who was sent by Pope Benedict XVI, religious leaders and government officials.

Relatives of the victims also assembled in groups and raised their arms to the sky to pray for the souls of those who died due to the earthquake.

However, the general situation of the country has not improved very much since then; it is said that only five per cent of the rubble has been moved away.

According to the Red Cross, moving away these rubbles will take, at least, ten years of uninterrupted work with external support, and the reconstruction works have been stopped given that most of the promised international aid has not arrived yet.

The improvised camps to shelter more than 1.3 million victims are crowded and lack the necessary hygienic and sanitary conditions.  

The political instability, after controversial presidential elections still pending for a second round, is also hampering the recovery of that nation.

It is imperative the revival of this nation, which held the first revolution to triumph in Latin America and which is now being devastated be the cholera pandemics that has taken almost 4 000 lives.(ACN)