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On January 12, 2010, at 4:53 pm, in Haiti,

an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter scale has plunged Haiti into hell… 35 seconds later… the capital of Port-au-Prince was destroyed over 75%. Today it is estimated that the number of dead could rise 300.0000 dead “as many” injuries and than 2.3 million people were displaced, more than a million live still in camps or makeshift shelters. Yesterday as now, nothing has really changed… Port-au-Prince is a monument of ruins which seems to have escaped to the time…

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On the anniversary of this tragedy that continues to go on, Kathy, who lives in Haiti with her partner, has written a moving, thought-provoking post “Haiti’s 35 Second Tragedy: a Second Chance for Peace“.

And what I see—every 35 seconds—is a city still in ruin.  I see the weary but not teary eyes of human beings too stunned to grieve even colossal losses.

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Kathy’s message is one of hope. She asks all of us to

Please take 35 seconds to share this prayer with me.  Take 35 seconds and pray for peace in Haiti.

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I urge you to visit Kathy, to at least read this one post by her.

I cannot pretend to know much of what’s been going on in Haiti in the past year. I will admit that like many people in the Western world, I cried over the destruction and the victims a year ago; I read and watched the coverage with an obsession; I made the donations; I hugged my kids; I was moved by the outpouring of compassion all over the world. Then I moved on. I briefly thought of Haiti when I heard of the cholera outbreak in October. I did not think of Haiti again until I heard on NPR the other day of a report of refugee camps and tent cities that have failed to disappear and in fact have now evolved into something semi-permanent.

Yes, horror stories abound in these tent cities. But if you listen to NPR, like I did, you will also hear stories of hope, self-reliance, will power, survival and perseverance. Cities of hope. “Tired Of Waiting, Haitians Build Their Own Homes“. “Haitians Take Rubble Removal Into Own Hands“.

Let’s focus on hope today.

35 seconds.