Six months on, the 12 January earthquake continues to haunt many Haitians who have been deeply traumatised by the unprecedented trail of death and destruction. Many families are today still struggling to come to terms with the loss of their loved ones.

The grief remains, but Haitians are a resilient people and hope is returning to the lives of many with the help of church, music and other cultural activities.
 
Heartbroken parents continue to mourn the loss of their children and the country now has to assist tens of thousands of traumatized orphans.

The grief of the survivors is aggravated by the fact that many did not have the opportunity to pay their final respects as bodies were hastily buried in mass graves in the days that followed the quake.

The trauma suffered by many of the 1, 5 million displaced persons currently living in camps often manifests itself by an overpowering feeling of weariness, exhaustion and lack of appetite and desire for life.

"Why should I work now that I have lost my precious ones and 35 years of my life," sobs Myrlaine Paul, who lost her two children who were buried under the rubble of her house.

Yet, despite all the grieving and suffering, life has to go on for traumatized survivors who can benefit from a degree of psychosocial support provided by various groups and organizations, including the IOM. 

A variety a support activities are being organized in camps, churches, schools and other humanitarian institutions to help survivors resume their own productive lives.

In the Champs de Mars camp, a psychosocial clinic has been set up in the grounds of the Faculty of Ethnology, which provides daily counselling to traumatised camp residents.

On Place Boyer in Pétion-ville, films, documentaries and video clips are regularly played on giant screens to large audiences. "It allows me to relax and I always feel better afterwards," says Martine who particularly enjoyed the video performance of Barikad Crew, a famous local hip-hop group.
 
Similarly, sporting events take place in camps for young people who are always eager to take part. In park Sainte Thérèse at the periphery of Petion-ville, teams of young players regularly participate in hotly contested tournaments.

For younger children, "Plas timoun" or "The Children's Place" is probably the best known initiative. Set up by the first lady Mme Elisabeth Préval, "The Children's Place" allows children to take part in recreational and educational activities. With the help of local educators, children engage in drawing and painting, dancing and story telling.

With funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), IOM has deployed multidisciplinary teams to camps. They include psychologists, social workers and performers.

"We've deployed several teams since March in and around Port-au-Prince," says IOM's Jean Jeune Desrisier. "Haitian culture is at the heart of many of our activities. This allows children and their parents to jointly take part with a view to further the development of the little ones."

Dancing, painting, pottery making are among recreational activities that aim to help community members come to terms with their trauma.

In Tabarre Issa, which recently received some 500 families who chose to relocate from the flood prone Vallée Bourdon, an IOM psychosocial team help parents and children develop and put in place community support groups.

According to IOM team member Jean Mozart Feron, the trauma suffered sometimes leads families to simply lose their means of communicating. "This is why we pay particular attention to helping family members to talk and express their feelings as a first step in the healing process."

Thirty-two year old Marjorie has been attending sessions organized by Jean Mozart and his team. She says they "offer hope in the future even if there are things I will never be able to forget."

Jean Jeune Desrisier says very good results have been achieved since the launch of the programme. "Traumatized children who had lost all self esteem have regained confidence and joie de vivre. They talk and play and look forward to the future."

He adds that awareness, prevention and direct intervention appear to have reduced marital violence and violence against children.   

He adds that the rebuilding of Haiti will only be successful once the minds of the people of Haiti have found peace.