Governor General Michaelle Jean speaks to members of the National Coalition for Women's Rights Advocacy in Port-au-Prince March 8, 2010. REUTERS/Felix Evens

LEOGANE, Haiti — Governor General Michaelle Jean, on her first trip to Haiti since the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, thanked Canadian troops Monday for their humanitarian work.

"People are proud of you. What you have demonstrated is your strength of spirit even more than your courage," she said.

"Your generosity is remarkable."

Canadians set up a field hospital in Leogane "in record time," she said.

Jean's arrival in Haiti, the country of her bith, was greeted as if she were a rock star by hundreds of women who gathered to meet her earlier Monday.

She danced and clapped hands at an International Women's Day event in Port-au-Prince., at times seeming overwhelmed by the hands reaching toward her.

She told the crowd that women are the “pillars” of the society and that Haiti would not succeed at reconstruction without women heavily involved in the planning.

"If no women are involved, it will surely fail," she said.

It has been an emotional day for the governor-general. In the morning, she toured the remains of the church where she was baptized as a child, even as crumbling bits of rubble cascaded into a small heap near her feet.

Jean and her husband picked their way through the Church of St. Trinity, where the crowd that clustered tightly around her disturbed some of the rubble, kicking up clouds of dust at the vice-regal couple. Unfazed, they laid a wreath and were presented with a small piece of a colourful historic fresco that had once graced the walls of this UNESCO heritage site.

Jean, who was born in the capital, Port-au-Prince, is spending two days surveying the damage and travelling to the city of Jacmel where she spent parts of her childhood.

To mark International Women's Day, her Monday events are themed around women's issues — including the memorial service for prominent Haitian feminists who died in the quake. Tuesday, her agenda of events focus on education issues.

The streets of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, are still clogged with debris and flimsy camping tents co-exist with the remains of buildings.

Meeting with Haitian President Rene Preval when she arrived Monday, Jean said: "Mourning is one thing. Making sure that life triumphs over destruction is the focus."

Christina.spencer@sunmedia.ca