PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - At precisely 4:53 p.m. on Wednesday, the moment one year ago when an earthquake shattered their homeland, some Haitians dropped to their knees in prayer.
Others, like former Canadian governor general Michaelle Jean, stood in silence at a memorial service in Port-au-Prince.
And still more, like Marcus Francois, stared at the country's crumpled presidential palace, reflecting on the loved ones they had lost.
Francois' little brother, John, died in the quake.
"I'm so sad right now," said Francois, 20, whose brother's body was found two days after the quake, buried under a fallen concrete wall.
"There were so many people who were dying in the street."
Haiti has been struggling to recover from the Jan. 12 quake that toppled entire city blocks, razed buildings and killed an estimated 230,000 people, including 58 Canadians.
A year later, roadsides are still littered with rubble and many Haitians believe their country's reconstruction process has been far too slow.
In recent months, the island nation has also been hit by an election crisis and a cholera outbreak that has killed more than 3,600 people.
Hundreds marked the anniversary Wednesday in front of the presidential palace, an area that has since been swallowed by an ocean of emergency tents for people left homeless by the quake.
Haitians wearing white, a colour associated with mourning here, filed into Port-au-Prince churches, where they sang hymns and prayed.
Jean, who's now a special envoy to Haiti for the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, returned to the country of her birth to attend two memorial ceremonies -- one at a UN base and another at a university that was damaged in the temblor.
The mood was sombre as she arrived at Port-au-Prince's Universite Quisqueya, where 23 people lost their lives.
Jean told reporters how important it is for Haiti to resolve its ongoing political crisis in a decisive, peaceful manner, especially if it wants the world's help as it tries to rebuild.
"So that we can quickly have a capable government that puts forward a plan that the international community could attach itself to," she said.
When asked by reporters if she thinks the world is failing to keep its pledge to help Haiti, Jean said: "The world needs to keep its promise; right now it's too slow."
Reconstruction efforts remain disorganized, she added.
"There's too much confusion, not enough co-ordination, it's not well-integrated enough," she said.
Jean also said that looking back at the disaster, and its massive human toll, is an important step towards the country's reconstruction.
"It's about remembering all the people who died last year and it's about also putting all of our belief and hope in life," said Jean, who as governor general visited the country last year, in particular her childhood home of Jacmel, in the weeks following the quake.
"Life must triumph here in Haiti."
When she walked into a tent that served as a makeshift classroom, Jean was greeted like a celebrity. She chatted with elementary-school children and hugged faculty members as visitors lined up for the chance to shake her hand.
Later, she attended a mass at a mausoleum on the school grounds, where 16 of those who died on the property are now buried.
A school bus packed with mourners arrived at the crypt shortly after Jean and most journalists had left the site.
About 10 sobbing, screaming women had to be helped back to the bus after they visited the mausoleum. Men, several of whom had bloodshot eyes, fought back tears as they flanked the women and held them upright by the arms.
Quisqueya student Dephnee Charles, who was cramming for an exam during the ceremony, said she really would have enjoyed meeting Jean.
"I would tell her to do what she can do for our country, so that we can get better," the 24-year-old said.
The agro-economics student lost one of her professors in the quake -- environmental studies teacher Obicson Lilite.
"I'm very (sad) about that," Charles said.
"And also, it's very difficult to find professors in Haiti, and when you had a very good professor and now he's (dead), it is very difficult to replace these professors."
At 4:53 p.m., Jean was standing in silence at an event with former U.S. president Bill Clinton and Haitian President Rene Preval to remember UN workers who died in the quake.
A few kilometres from the UN base, Francois wondered about his future.
His family house was levelled in the quake and he's been living in a camp ever since.
"I don't feel OK when I live in a tent," he said. "(It's) difficult -- a difficult life."
