Michaëlle Jean weeps as she revisits her hometown
Streets and rooftops were lined with people the last time Governor General Michaëlle Jean visited Haiti, her home country. Her latest visit, following the earthquake that decimated the country, is much more somber. On the first day of her two-day trip Jean laid a wreath at the church where she was baptized, now crumbled into rumble, and traveled to a community centre where she met with the daughter of her own daughter’s god mother, who died during the quake. Jean’s extended family has been difficult to locate, as the Haitian concept of family is fluid, and the country has no phone books or street signs. Still, the governor general said, “family is about the forces that unite us in solidarity and brotherhood. Family isn’t just in the blood; it’s in the work we do together.”