Haiti will mark the first anniversary of the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that killed at least 250,000 and left 1.5 million homeless, with the effects still painfully evident a year on.


Haitian President Rene Preval (C), his wife Elisabeth Delatour Preval (2nd R) and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive (R) prepare to lay a wreath at St. Christophe, where thousands of victims of the January 12, 2010 earthquake are buried, in Port-au-Prince on January 11, 2011, Haiti began two days of remembrance ceremonies in honor of the nearly quarter million people who died in an earthquake that leveled the impoverished country a year ago. (Xinhua/AFP)
On Tuesday, one day before the Jan. 12 anniversary, the streets here are still strewn with rubble. Only 5 percent of the rubble has been removed in the year since, according to authorities.


The scenes in the capital city are just the same as one year ago, perhaps with the difference that the fear and trauma on people's faces have been replaced by a determination to continue with their normal life.


The government has organized a series of activities to commemorate the day, which include cultural activities and homages, not only in Port-au-Prince, but in other cities affected by the earthquake.


Haitians have learnt to live with the devastation and have used collapsed buildings to improvise small businesses and even homes. And with reconstruction dragging on, people began to repair their houses themselves.


After the quake hit, the international society made many efforts to help Haiti rebuild. The U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a report published recently that, in one year, the organization had vaccinated two million Haitian children, helped more than 720,000 children return to school, and set up 369 children centers to provide daily activities for nearly 95,000 children.


The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also said in a report that the organization had provided materials for building shelters for 172,000 Haitian families. A total of 160,000 families had received items for sanitation and daily life, and 216,000 people had received medical aid from the organization.


The Haitian government itself has launched a series of plans for reconstruction. Facilities for water, electricity and communication have been repaired, and more than 300,000 homeless have been settled.


VietNamNet/Xinhuanet