by LAWRENCE DOWNES, New York Times Edi­to­r­ial Notebook

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Haitians are try­ing to solve a rid­dle: How do you rebuild a coun­try that was never prop­erly built in the first place? Look­ing for a brighter future, they are feel­ing their way in the dark, in the rain, sur­rounded by death and rub­ble. At the same time they are strug­gling just to sur­vive. On a trip to the cap­i­tal, Port-au-Prince, and other places in late Feb­ru­ary and early March, I saw strength, wit and endurance bat­tling hopelessness.