PORT-AU-PRINCE (AlertNet) Â? One month after a devastating earthquake killed some 212,000 people, tens of thousands of Haitians took to the capitalÂ?s streets and churches on Friday to remember the dead and pray for divine help.
On a national day of mourning, crowds in the central Champs de Mars area of Port-au-Prince waved their arms, shouted Â?HallelujahÂ?, sang and danced. In quieter moments of prayer, some held their heads in their hands or hugged their neighbours.
The event marked the start of five days of prayer, followed by a day of celebration, replacing the traditional carnival festival that the government cancelled this year.
Mourners and worshippers, many wearing white, packed out the space between the partly destroyed presidential palace and the rows of makeshift shelters that have sprung up in the area, now home to 16,000 people, one of the largest camps for those displaced by the Jan. 12 quake.
An estimated 1 million people in Haiti remain homeless and despite a massive relief effort, some say they have seen little international aid. United Nations' agencies and aid agencies say they are working flat out to meet the needs but the challenge is huge.
Hundreds of thousands are living in makeshift camps around the city, with poor sanitation and surrounded by rotting garbage.
Â?WeÂ?ve received nothing. WeÂ?ve seen people giving out things around here but they havenÂ?t given us anything,Â? said Jeanne Pierre Nourette, 44, who sleeps with her seven children underneath sheets and bedding in Champs de Mars.
Nourette, like hundreds of thousands of others in HaitiÂ?s devastated capital and beyond, is waiting: waiting for a means to make money, for temporary shelter, and for schools, universities and places of work to reopen or be rebuilt.
Most importantly, she is waiting for any indication of where she will be living in the weeks or months to come as the rainy and hurricane seasons approach. Asked where she thought she would end up, Nourette slapped her hands together and shook her head to signal she had no idea.
BARELY ALIVE
There is little to do for those living in camps whose homes, places of work or study have been destroyed.
"I donÂ?t know what the future will bring. ThatÂ?s up to the government and the NGOs,Â? said Gaspard Rodlin, 28, a student of economics, taking a swig from a small bottle of rum in his pocket. He said he and his cousins, camped out in Champs de Mars, had started to drink during the day as they had nothing to do.
It is a similar story in other camps around the capital. In some, international agencies have provided shelter and there are lines of neatly erected white tents but thousands of other people are sleeping on the ground under blankets and bedding.
The displaced complain of a lack of privacy and security.
In a camp that has sprung up in Place Saint Pierre, in the district of Petionville, there are no toilets. People use plastic bags and throw them down a ravine.
The camp is packed with women during the day. Some of the men are off looking for work but many women are single mothers.
"Sometimes I donÂ?t feel like IÂ?m alive. IÂ?m not very happy,Â? said Elourdes Similien, 20, who has sent her two children to stay with other family members in the provinces. Â?IÂ?ve no idea what will happen, weÂ?ll just have to wait and see.Â?
Nearby, Jeanne Vital, 30, breastfed her 7-month-old baby, sitting on the concrete floor under plastic sheeting to keep off the hot sun.
While millions of dollars have poured into the relief effort, the challenges facing Haiti and international relief agencies are evident across the capital. Piles of rubble and rubbish lie in the middle of roads and many businesses and institutions that provided work lie in ruins.
Â?IÂ?m not used to living by people bringing things to me, IÂ?m used to working,Â? said Fontaine Rose Emilienne, 38, camped in Place Saint Etienne, whose business selling sandals was destroyed in the quake, along with all her stock.
The United Nations has begun a cash-for-work programme, employing Haitians to clear rubble from the streets, which is set to employ some 70,000 people within the next week, but the demand for work far outstrips supply.
After losing family members, friends and livelihoods, it is faith that seems to be keeping many Haitians going.
Â?After suffering comes deliverance,Â? said Rodlin.
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