Although the coverage of the aftermath of the 7.3 earthquake which has left Haiti's capital partly devastated, has been massive, one group of Haitian bloggers has been overlooked – teenagers. Here is a look at what young people have to say about this catastrophe, which foreshadows a new era in their lives. You might not wanna know what happened to me. You might only be interested to what happened to you aunt or your grandpa that are in haiti and that you can’t reach by phone. I can’t blame you for that, though you can’t blame me for wanting to write all this, since there’s no one else but my blog that can sit and listen to it. These are the first words of female blogger Krizkadiak in her January 15th post entitled “From 16 year old eyes” and they reveal her need to speak, to be heard and to have her pain acknowledged. This echoes a post by Frantz Duval [Fr] published by Espas Ayisien, entitled “On oublie que les enfants aussi ont mal” (We are oblivious that children suffer too), in which testimonies of Haitian teenagers are compiled. Both posts inform us about the first signs of the massive earthquake. In the words of Krizkadiak: We felt the ground shaking, but we didn’t pay attention, because none of us had experienced that before, so we continued walking. but then it started shaking a lot more and we could hear the PE teacher screaming for us to lay on the ground. This experience is echoed by 15 year-old Nathalie quoted in Espas Ayisien‘s post [Fr]: Nous étions en cours de danse chez Joëlle Donatien Belot, dans la salle du bas quand nous avons ressentis une forte vibration. Personne ne s'en est inquiété. […] Le temps pour nous de sortir, il y a une nouvelle secousse. Both girls’ testimonies highlight the lack of preparedness for an earthquake of this magnitude, but they also share a common theme, which is the need to connect with family – especially their fathers. Krizkadiak says: Then everyone got up and ran to go get their phones and try to call their parents… I tried to call my dad; the only thing i could hear was the « beep beep » it does when it’s busy. and disconnected.. i got extremely worried about him. worried. While Nathalie adds [Fr]: J'ai arrêté d'avoir peur quand mon père est venu me chercher. Words of wisdom are shared by these teenagers who acknowledge that they have been lucky. Here is Nathalie's statement [Fr]: Aujourd'hui, quand je pense à tout cela, à mon école, l’ Institution du Sacré-Coeur qui s'est effondrée, je me dis que nous avons eu de la chance. In the same post, after witnessing scenes of horror on her way back home, she continues: I saw my school fall in front of me. I saw people running covered in dust, hearing that their houses fell… sometimes with people in them. I saw a refugee camp, as they are on tv… people praying, people alive but not really… I saw a baby half dead, covered in bandaids… I saw almost 150 people in three little tents… and thousands on the ground outside. I saw a friend at the cemetery burying his little cousin. I saw the oldest and prettiest houses of jacmel reduced to nothing. I saw pickup truck filled with corpses… I saw my teacher walking to the cemetery behind the car where his wife’s dead body was… I saw kids from my school, people i KNOW, at the refugee camp…. Krizkadiak concludes: When we got back to the beach, my neighbor’s hotel had huge crack all over it, the sea was still not at it’s place, my house didnt have much damage, there were broken bottles and glasses on the floor, but nothing very important… However, these testimonies cannot hide the fact that other teenagers have also been affected by the earthquake. In Espas Ayisien‘s post, we learn about 16 year-old Fanorah who did not experience the tremors herself, but saw her life turning into a nightmare on the following day [Fr]: […] je ne comprenais rien à cette affaire de tremblement de terre car Pétion-Ville et le haut de Delmas ne sont pas très affectés. Tout au plus, cela avait provoqué un grand embouteillage et gâché ma soirée, raconte-t-elle. L'horreur, elle ne la découvre que 24 heures plus tard, quand le décompte des morts commence. Sa marraine, et trois de ses amies sont mortes et aussi plein de gens qu'elle connaisse. « Je ne comprends pas, je ne comprends toujours pas ce qui s'est passé », répond-t-elle à chaque fois qu'on lui pose une question sur le tremblement de terre du 12 janvier. She only discovered the horror of the situation, the next day, when the casualty toll begins. Her godmother, three of her friends and many people she knew, died. “I don't understand it, I still don't understand what happened” is her answer every time she is asked a question concerning Jan. 12th earthquake.