Star Metro - Photos, memories all that remain for Colombia's bereaved after quake

Marlene Nino, a 70-year-old retired lawyer who lost her sister Doris, said she felt grateful for the volunteers who helped recover some of her photos from the ruins.

"We're left with the memories," she told AFP as she showed a picture of herself with her sister and other relatives. "They have an enormously great sentimental value."

She feels a mix of "joy, sadness and nostalgia," she said.

The building's management is overseeing the recovery of belongings, as hopes fade that any more survivors will be found.

Doris Nino was 72 and lived alone. She was about to leave for a dentist appointment when the disaster struck and her building collapsed.

Several of her nephews joined the search effort as volunteers, digging with their bare hands until they found her body next to what was left of the kitchen.

"When we found her, she had already died," Marlene Nino said. "We want to believe that she didn't suffer."

Her sister is one of nearly 300 killed in the strongest earthquake of the century in Colombia.

More than 100 people remain missing, but rescue operations have been called off in many buildings.

Almost a week after the quake, fatigue and anguish have taken a tough toll on volunteers and the families of the dead and missing.

Colombia has activated a national network to offer counseling, both online and in person, to help people cope.

Some professionals have traveled to care for the affected in the hardest-hit areas.

Manuela Barrios, a volunteer psychologist in Limonar, said the recovered objects help survivors "preserve the memory."

"They find something and their face, their expression, changes. That's what stays with me," the 38-year-old mental health professional said.

In tears, Marlene Nino said she felt shaken and powerless in the face of her sister's sudden death.

"We were able to find the body; some people couldn't. And that seems even sadder to me," she said.

A.Desjardins--SMC