Signs of health and happiness return to Haiti

Few countries have suffered as much as Haiti in recent years. Already the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, it was devastated by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake in 2010 that killed an estimated 220,000 people and displaced 1.5 million from their homes.

Amid the hardship of rebuilding, one family is struggling with an extremely rare medical crisis that Haiti's health care system wouldn't normally be equipped to handle. CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook traveled to Haiti to report on their story, and will bring us the details tomorrow.

On his first day back in the country, he visited a hospital built with the help of the international aid group Partners In Health, and noted other signs of recovery since the quake. 'There are deep problems that remain in Haiti," LaPook said. "They are trying to rebuild a health care system and infrastructure that really never existed in the first place." But he said he was struck by how much things have changed.

He writes:

I landed yesterday in Port-au-Prince. This is my first trip back to Haiti since 2012, and my fourth visit since the terrible earthquake of 2010.

It's too early for me to get accurate vital signs, but the vibe is clearly improved.

In the afternoon, I stood among hundreds of public school kids waiting to board buses to go home. They were laughing, yelling, pushing each other, fooling around - universal school yard behavior. Their faces showed no trace of the sadness I saw so frequently as I visited families living in tent camps on my previous trips.

I spoke to a few of the children in my broken Creole and slightly less broken French, and they said they were happy.

I know Haiti still has enormous problems, but for a few minutes on a clear, spring day in the nation's capital, it warmed my heart to see kids being kids again.

We will have much more of his special coverage from Haiti over the next few days.