Editor's Note: There's death and destruction almost everywhere in Haiti. But amid all the chaos there are signs – however small – of life trying to return to Port-au-Prince. Our Jason Carroll reports on that part of the story from the Haitian capital.

By Jason Carroll and Justin Dial

We witnessed tense moments at a Unibank just outside the city of Carrefour. People, who had lined up and waited hours for it to open for the first time since the earthquake, were pushed back by armed guards.

Astrid Napoleon had been waiting on line since 7 a.m. for the bank to open. She said she is hopeless because she has nothing at home, no money and nothing to eat. Later, Astrid leaves the line and gives up.

The bank's reopening is just one sign of how some are trying to get Port-au-Prince back on its feet. But the trouble there shows just how difficult that's going to be.

"Its hard to get in and it's crazy out here. ... There's no law and order," says Anderson Bellegarde.

Larger, established stores are hiring private security guards to watch properties damaged in the quake. But most business taking place now is happening on a smaller level, out on the streets.

Makeshift markets are popping up next to destroyed buildings all over the city. People are coming out and starting to sell basic goods such as vegetables, bread and sugar cane.

But some goods are being sold at inflated, post-earthquake prices. That goes for gas too. It has tripled in price, as much as $26 a gallon.

But a haircut at a barber shop we found is still only two U.S. dollars. Now, if the owner could only find customers with money to pay and gas to run his generator.

In the streets, there is a contrast of commerce: someone gets a shoe-shine, and the sadder and much more frequent sight of men trying to keep up with the demand for coffins.

People's hearts go out to Haiti's orphans and Secretary Clinton says the U.S. won't let red tape stand in the way of helping them. But it does have to follow international adoption procedures to protect those children, and those laws did not change as a result of the earthquake.

The State Department says before the earthquake there were as many as 900 parents in the U.S. who had filed paperwork with the Department of Homeland Security saying they intended to adopt from Haiti. There are three groups of orphans the State Department is dealing with:

1. Orphans already in the process of being adopted. 50 of them have been given visas. Most of them have been flown out of the country.

2. Other orphans were in the early stages of adoption. Parents had been identified and those parents had gone through many of the U.S. And Haitian legal procedures. The U.S. now has waived that paperwork and the children have been given humanitarian parole. Several hundred have been flown to the U.S. to meet with the prospective parents. They can stay in the U.S for 2 years where the parents can complete adoption process.

3. Children who have not yet been matched with adoptive parents will not be moved from Haiti, at least right now – unless they have a medical condition. The State Department says it's working with orphanages to find protection for them.

The organization "Save the Children" says the "vast majority of children currently on their own in Haiti are not orphans but simply separated from families." Those relatives could be alive and desperate to find them and "taking children out of the country immediately," they say, "would cause even more trauma" and could allow traffickers to exploit these children.

If you want to adopt a child from Haiti, the State Department says it's best to wait until some of the chaos subsides, but you can get started by checking out their Web site: www.adoption.state.gov

If you already are adopting a Haitian child and need help you should send detailed information to: Haitianadoptions@dhs.gov. They match it with their information and help get that child out of Haiti.