Dr. Rodrique Mortel, Director of the Missions Office and the Haiti Outreach Project, is in Haiti and offer daily reports of his surgical and spiritual work there.

Last Day in Haiti

After 2 full weeks, the time has come for me to leave Haiti and return to my family in PA and my job in Baltimore. Before I came down, I like everyone else watched the cable news and the networks reporting on the Haitian catastrophe. Knowing Port au Prince and the manner people live there, I was convinced that I was going to find the destruction much worse. I was wrong. It is just unthinkable.

I have never been to war, but I have watched on television the effects of the bombing of military targets. In Haiti, the targets were innocent infants, children and adults, as well as their homes, and their belongings. The powerful enemy were heavy blocks of cement. The war lasted less than a minute but killed thousands, injured hundreds of thousands and left more than a million homeless.

I took a last tour of Port au Prince and I saw homes after homes, blocs after blocs where the words “to be demolished” are written in large letters by the Department of Public Works. What will be left of Port au Prince after the completion of the operation, is anyone’s guess.

Day 7

The Catholic Church in Haiti has suffered extensive losses. In addition to the death of the Archbishop and his Vicar general, many priests have died and numerous seminarians are dead with the collapse of the grand seminary which housed the theology students. At least six parishes in the city have lost their churches. It is extremely difficult to find a standing Catholic church in Port-au-Prince.

The Diocese of Gonaives did not lose any priests or seminarians but a number of them were injured.

The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph de Cluny (which is in charge of Les Bons Samaritains school) lost all four of their elementary schools in Port-au-Prince. There is no loss of life but three nuns, including the first principal of our school, were so severely injured that they had to be air-lifted to Guadeloupe. The Sisters’ novitiate building collapsed and their chapel lost its roof.

The Christian Brothers lost two brothers, their elementary school and main administration building in the city.

The Clercs of St. Viateur (potential administrators of our college in construction) lost Villa Manrese, their headquarters and a prominent retreat center. This is where most priests, religious and missionaries stay when passing through Port-au-Prince. Our group stayed there when we were in Haiti this past December.

The collapse is almost everywhere. Most buildings that are still standing have visible cracks. There are about 150 of us staying at Catholic Relief Services and we are safe. Fuel is available. In Port-au-Prince the food prices are still okay. The government has taken steps to avoid "black market" price gouging.

It has been confirmed that in other cities patient care and the availability of supplies in a number of hospitals requires attention. Efforts are in the process to supply adequate distribution of support. Medical teams from all over the world are here in Port-au-Prince. Most institutions like Partners In Health, Albert Schweitzer Hospital and others are saturated with doctors while teams in other cities are lacking. Efforts are underway to address this need. Enough for today.

More about my new activity tomorrow. Please continue to pray for Haiti .

Day 6

I left for St. Marc Saturday afternoon and returned to Port au Prince early this morning (Monday, Jan. 25). Although the road is cracked in two places about five miles from the capital, it remains good and it still took me less than two hours to get to St. Marc. St. Marc is not damaged at all but every family in every home has seen an increase in the household by as many as eight people. It appears that the same phenomenon occurs in most cities such as Verrettes, Liancourt, Gonaives and Petite Riviere. In St. Marc patients are still waiting for surgery and those who had surgery are in need of post op medications. Supplies are lacking in St. Marc. We are addressing this problem. Parishes in the Cahos mountains of the Diocese of Gonaives appear to be severely affected by the earthquake but I am still looking for more precise information about that. The government is busing everyone out of Port au Prince who wants to leave and a lot of them do. There are two points for departure, one for the north and one for the south. All these large buses are loaded and make many trips a day. With the arrival of a large surgical team, my assignment has changed for this week. I am heading a badly needed outpatient clinic for all employees of Catholic Relief Services. I set it up and began this morning. They are severely affected materially, medically, and psychologically. More details tomorrow. A bientot.

Day 3

Yesterday, there were traffic jams all over the city, a sign that there is fuel. All schools in the country are closed with no official word as to how long. Around noon yesterday there were two strong tremors and another one this morning. The emotional and psychological impact of the tremors and the previous earthquakes is evident on both affected and unaffected individuals. All those I have met are very fearful. They sleep outside even though their homes are still standing. I am leaving now for the hospital. No phone communication today. Will write again soon. God bless you all.

Day 2

Yesterday, I worked in the hospital St Francis de Sales, which is a Catholic hospital in Port au Prince. Although severely damaged by the earthquake, it was the only hospital with a functional operating room the day after. Three buildings of the hospital collapsed and buried an estimated 100 children and adults. Catholic Relief Services, with a surgical group from Belgium, managed to open two more operating rooms. All patients are housed in the courtyard. Debris is yet to be removed and the stench is of high intensity. No radiology or laboratory services but we do have antibiotics, analgesics and other medical supplies to function. I head a team composed of an intern. a second year medical student and three nurses, and we care for patients with whatever condition. It is a bit chaotic but the team members are very cooperative. The Belgian group will leave on Monday and I understand that a trauma team from the University of Maryland will be coming. Any physician of other specialty who wants to come may want to contact the Maryland group. I have seen first-hand the leveled city and the people in the streets and in camps. It is heartbreaking. That's all for now. It is time to go to the hospital. Continue to pray for the Haitian people. A bientot.

Day 1

After a two-hour ride, the aircraft full of supplies and packed with volunteers from five different groups landed safely in Port au prince. Never before I have seen so many jumbo jets, including C5 military planes with hundreds of peoples on the airfield. Planes were taking off and landing at abnormally short intervals thanks to a temporary tower brought by the military. As it was dark when we left the airport, I saw some of the destructive effects of the quake. I heard planes’ actions all night from where we are. This morning a 6.1 quake moves the city back and forth. I was already on the street and safe. This morning we leave for work at one of the hospitals. Pray for us. Will update you again soon.