It was Jules’ third day working the spot like an archaeologist, removing layer upon layer of rock. He had established more or less the perimeter of his room. On Tuesday morning he uncovered a corner of his mattress.
While Jules, 21, toiled with hand tools, and at times his bare hands, just down the street heavy-duty earthmovers cleared lots, depositing entire homes into dump trucks or scraping collapsed dwellings into neat piles. For some victims of Haiti’s Aug. 14 earthquake, the necessary prelude to rebuilding has begun.
Joseph Gervain, another of Jules’ cousins, watched from the street. He lived in a house behind that was also damaged. He wondered how the earthmovers decide which lots to clear and which to pass.
