PEOPLE LINE UP FOR GAS IN AFTERMATH OF MAJOR QUAKE IN HAITI

Fr. Andrew is a 40 year old Missionhurst Priest from the Philippines, working as a pastor in one of the poorest sections of Port-au-Prince.
He has 80,000 people in his neighborhood.

 Dear friends,
 
It has been almost a week since the terrible earthquake but the anguish and woes of the people are still very much alive. So many people are missing, others are confirmed dead under the debris. The air smells of corpses. People are walking with their faces covered or with a toothpaste under their noses to lessen the awful smell from decaying bodies buried under the rubble.
 
Most of the evacuees in my rectory compound are now gone. I sent most of them (especially women and children) to their families in the provinces. The men chose to stay to watch over their properties. At the parish alone, about 90% of homes were destroyed or damaged. Perhaps 30% or so can be repaired. The rest need to be torn down.
 
People are still sleeping in the streets or in any open spaces. The trauma is so deep. I offer the church for

Fr. Andrew (right) with Fr. Marc-Eddie A diocesan priest and Friend

mothers and children as a shelter but no one dares to go inside. I am just thankful it hasn’t rained. Otherwise I couldn't imagine the children and babies outside! I am persuading more mothers near the church to seek shelter inside but they are still very afraid. I will keep the church open until they have the courage to come inside. Children and babies will not survive long while living in an open unsheltered space.
 
When the earthquake happened, I was celebrating my regular Tuesday afternoon Mass. I was at the consecration of the Mass, lifting up the chalice when the ground beneath us began to shake violently. People in the church began shouting and crying, others ran outside, others fell on the ground. Everything inside the church fell off their pedestals—the statue of the Virgin Mary crashed to the floor.

From behind the altar I could see out the front doors of the church. Everything in front of my church crumbled to the ground including the Baptist Church across the street. Everything was toppling fast—so many houses! The air became so white and dark, filled with the powder of fallen buildings. I could hear wailing; a chorus of voices were calling Jesus’ name for help. When the initial shaking stopped, I was standing right where I was, the altar unmoved, the chalice still elevated. I went to the front doors and I called the people back into the church for a blessing and then I sent them home to contact their families.

Almost immediately, hundreds of people began running through the streets, shocked and shaken. Others seemed to lose their sanity. There was total madness and chaos. Wounded people came out from the rubble, crying for help. I stood in front of the church, directing people to gather into the safe open space.
 
Today I am not sure what will happen next. It seems that rebuilding certain structures is just not possible.
Everything in this country has stopped abruptly. My food supplies are almost gone, yet I still need to feed and help some people around me. I hope we can survive for another week, until help comes. All banks are closed; prices of food have tripled in just a few days.

Aid is certainly not yet getting to the people who need it most. Small makeshift camps will probably not be able to receive many of the seriously injured because the victims first need to get medical assistance.
 
Tensions and insecurities are rising. Here around my rectory, the members of the neighborhood organized themselves to keep our streets secure. We put up barricades in the roads to keep thieves and rioters away. Everyone is sleeping outside. I have been sleeping in my car or in a tent at night. I am not yet sure how safe my rectory is anymore. 

WOMAN GETS DRINK OF WATER AFTER BEING PULLED FROM RUBBLE IN AFTERMATH OF EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI