SIDEBAR: Even the flowers suffer in Haiti's ruined capital

Port-au-Prince, Haiti - The sight of bouquets of flowers in the center of Haiti's destroyed capital offered a sudden, welcome oasis of normalcy for eyes accustomed to the gray dust still spilling from Port-au-Prince's countless tons of rubble. But first appearances are deceiving. Up close, the flowers are wilted in spite of the determined efforts of the vendor to keep them fresh at his open stall in St Pierre plaza.

"Since the quake, I haven't sold a single flower," Marius Souffrance sighed, referring to Tuesday's magnitude-7 earthquake, which killed as many as 200,000 people.

Just a week before, his was a booming, and blooming, business.

Souffrance used to travel regularly to Santo Domingo in the neighboring Dominican Republic to buy flowers to resell at high prices for Haiti - 12 dollars for a dozen roses - to the "bourgeoisie," as he referred to his erstwhile clients.

In fact, he had just returned from such a trip Wednesday, the day after the quake devastated most of the city.

Since then, nobody has approached him to buy any flowers.

"All my clients have died," he said, aware that catastrophe - for once - had befallen the rich neighborhoods as well as the poor.

Although he quickly converted some of his bouquets into funeral arrangements, his marketing strategy failed to bear fruit in a city so ruined that there is simply no time for funerals for the great majority of the dead.

As night fell Sunday, Souffrance prepared to end another disappointing business day. With luck, if the flowers stay wet and cool, they would last another day or two.

They are probably the last flowers that will be seen in St Pierre plaza for a long time to come.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/304352,sidebareven-the-flowers-suffer-in-haitis-ruined-capital.html.