As we departed Port au Prince, from the air we were able to gain a  much better appreciation for the extent of the destruction. Entire  sections of the city that was once home to a million and a half people  are now abandoned as ghost towns. The now familiar blue of the tarps dot  the landscape for as far as the eye can see and pile after pile of  rubble recall where homes used to stand. What will happen to all of  these people once the rainy season begins?  Flying over Léogâne, we  witnessed an entire city leveled; Léogâne once stood near the epicenter  of the quake. We flew over the fault line of the earthquake: the shaking  emanated from the Bay and followed the river bed, jolting the sides of  the mountains and causing landslides as if the mountains were sand. This  is where it all started, in twenty seconds changing life forever in a  country that was already broken. In Jacmel more than 80% of the  buildings were destroyed or badly damaged by the quake. But we were  taken by the warmth and openness of the people; their demeanor was  noticeably different than what we observed in the capital. Perhaps the  beauty of the Caribbean pacifies? The happy faces of the children  playing on the beach were a welcome respite. Was it their innocence that  so captivated us? Their naivety? Or were the sadness and pain simply  hiding behind their stoic smiles?

www.eightdaysinhaiti.com

www.somosamigos.org