Thursday post Haiti... The day we arrived in Port au Prince, on our drive to Terre Blanche, we stopped at the Earthquake Memorial. On 12 January 2010, at 4:53pm local time, Haiti was struck by a magnitude-7.0 earthquake. This was the country's most severe earthquake in over 200 years. The 2010 Haiti earthquake was reported to have left up to 316,000 people dead and 1.6 million homeless, though later reports put the death toll between 46,000 and 85,000. Either way, the aftermath was devastating. The country has yet to recover from the 2010 earthquake (and subsequent incidents) due to both the severity of the damage Haiti endured in 2010, as well as a government that was ineffective well before the earthquake. Tragically, there were bodies everywhere, mass graves, and no opportunity for survivors to bury their relatives or mourn. This memorial was to be at the site of a mass grave and, unfortunately, has not gotten very far in its construction. You will see in my photos, the sign outside the memorial showing what the finished product should look like. There is a wooden cross at the top of the hill over looking the memorial site, a guarded gate, concrete walls, and a black tiled memorial that has already been vandalized. Outside the gate is a small food stall, and children hang out around the front gate, begging for food. The site is truly tragic and a a testament to the political paralysis in Haiti, as well as the scale of devastation caused by the earthquake.