The Philippine Online Chronicles

Hundreds of thousands of homeless Haitians observed a national day of mourning to mark one month after the devastating quake that killed more than 230,000 people.

The ceremony took place at the city center of Port-Au-Prince, where the National Palace lies in ruins. People wore black and white in respect for the dead. The Haitian government has declared February 12 to 15 as days of prayers to remember loved ones.

The remembrance comes after the first heavy rain since the earthquake brought new misery to Haitians.

According to Agence France Presse, Haitian authorities have warned that the rainy season is now the greatest looming threat facing the impoverished Caribbean country in the wake of the 7.0-magnitude quake.

The downpour also highlighted the need to provide adequate shelter for an estimated 1.2 million still sleeping in the streets.

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said she would propose "the launch of work on an EU military mission to provide shelter in Haiti ahead of the rainy season which starts in March," channelnewsasia.com posted.

Protests vs. Preval

Hundreds of Haitians also demanded the resignation of Haiti president Rene Preval, who has been largely out of sight since the catastrophe. Protests have become a near-daily occurrence in Port-au-Prince as demonstrators block trucks passing the U.N. base in the city capital.

“They’ve been collecting money for Haiti around the world. Many millions have been collected. But we are still in misery,” Jean-Max Seraphin told Reuters.

Though there are progress in the aid efforts, food has yet to reach all of the 3 million people who need it. Huffingtonpost.com reported that infrastructure problems and supply backlogs continue to hamper an international aid effort that has drawn $537 million from the United States alone.

There is food in Haiti, but especially following the earthquake it has grown increasingly expensive and hard to get. The price of heavily subsidized imported rice has shot up 25 percent since the earthquake to USD3.71 a 2.7-kilo (6-pound) bag, according to USAID. Corn is up more than 25 percent, wheat increased by half. Charcoal, needed for cooking, has shot up 17 percent.

Meanwhile, in the town of Marassa, thousands of people are living in holes they dug in the ground and the surprise downpour soaked their makeshift shelters in mud.

Plans to build tent cities for the homeless were stalled. Foreign governments, aid groups, and Haitian officials have decided that tents take up too much space and will not last long enough.

"Tents are great, they're a lot better than nothing, but they basically impede the process of economic development and reconstruction," said Lewis Lucke, U.S. Special Coordinator for Relief and Reconstruction.

Instead, 250,000 families will get one sheet of plastic each between now and May 1, and will later receive temporary, earthquake-resistant structures of metal and wood.

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said the government has "no clear vision" of how to move 1 million people into better temporary shelters, and said it could be a decade before Haiti can build 250,000 homes to replace those destroyed.

Prayers for hope

The Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti, Archbishop Bernardito Cleopas Auza, hosted a Caritas meeting at the Holy See’s Embassy in Port-au-Prince to look at relief operations and longer term challenges such as education, agriculture, reconstruction and disaster preparedness.

“We must help Haitians become self-sufficient. Haiti needs more structured support,” Auza said. "However, I look to the future with confidence.”

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