Governor General Michaelle Jean (left), speaks with the congregation of the main Cathedral in Port-au-Prince Mar. 8, 2010. Jean is on a two-day official visit to Haiti.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean on Monday called the destruction in her native country “unbelievable,” but expressed optimism that the Haitian people can rebuild their quake-shattered country.

“It’s as if the city has been bombarded. The magnitude of destruction is unbelievable,” Jean said as she kicked off a two-day trip to Haiti.

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BY TRENTON DANIEL/ tdaniel@MiamiHerald.com

Tired of living off of Port-au-Prince’s crumbs, rural areas are pushing for a decentralization of power and resources.

L’ESTERE, Haiti — This town in the Haitian hinterlands has a mostly unpaved main road, scant public services, a main hospital that closes on weekends and few jobs besides farming.

The situation in L’Estère is typical of small towns in Haiti, where resources — what little there are — flow to the central government in Port-au-Prince and little if any return. The archaic relationship between the provinces and the capital will likely be another casualty of Jan. 12′s devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake.

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By Bate Felix

BRUSSELS, (Reuters) – The European Union said it would start paying quake-stricken Haiti a first tranche of 100 million euros ($135 million) in promised aid on Tuesday to help the government pay salaries, rebuild schools and repair roads. The EU, one of Haiti’s largest donors, committed over 300 million euros in initial aid following the devastating earthquake in January that killed more than 200,000 people in the Caribbean nation, the poorest in the Americas.

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BRASILIA, Brazil (PennWell) — Brazil will help build a hydroelectric power project in Haiti, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said.

The president recently visited Haiti to meet with Haitian President Rene Preval.

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