Moontown

“It’s as if the city had been bombarded,” she told a joint media conference with Haitian President Rene Preval.

But, she added: “Being here, what I see is people really trying to overcome that incredible ordeal.”

Haitian president Rene Preval(L) welcoming Canadian Governor General Michaelle Jean in Port-au-Prince almost two months of 7.3 magniture Haiti quake. AFP PHOTO

Haiti “is not alone,” she said.

Canada and other members of the international community continued to support it as it sought to recover from the January 12 earthquake that killed more than 220,000 people, left 1.3 million homeless and cut Haiti’s economy’s in half.

“Mourning is one thing. Making sure that life triumphs over destruction is the focus,” she said.

Later in the day, Jean visited several locations in Haiti, including Jacmel, a coastal town she knew as a child which was untouched by the quake but whose population has since swelled with residents who fled the broken capital.

Canada’s first black governor general, Jean was born in Port-au-Prince in 1957 and spent her childhood summers in Jacmel. She and her family fled Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier’s regime when she was 11 years old.

Jean’s trip comes on the heels of Canadian Defense Minister Peter Mackay’s weekend visit to Haiti, where Canada has more than 1,500 troops on the ground. Mackay met with soldiers involved in aid efforts, and visited medical facilities in the country.

On Wednesday, Jean, the viceregal representative of the British throne in Canada, will hold talks with Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez. (Caribnet)