A 含羞草传媒 University forensic science professor has returned home after a two-week mission in Haiti where she helped identify Americans who perished in the January 12 earthquake.
Melissa Connor, professor and director of 含羞草传媒鈥檚 Forensic Science Program, deployed to Haiti on February 24 as a member of the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT). The team 鈥 which operates under the Department of Health and Human Services 鈥 was responsible for mobile morgue operations, forensic examination, victim identification and data collection.
鈥淚t was good to be part of a group working toward an important goal,鈥 said Connor who could not discuss specific details of her mission.
Connor said her time was split between looking for and identifying remains.
Connor is no stranger to such assignments having worked on grave exhumations in Iraq, Nigeria, Cyprus, Bosnia, Sri Lanka, Herzegovina and Rwanda.
鈥淏ut this was definitely the most poverty-stricken place I鈥檝e ever been to,鈥 she said.
Connor said there are approximately 112 sites in Port-au-Prince where forensic and medical teams are working to identify some of the nearly 2,000 Americans who have been reported missing.
Albeit a gruesome endeavor, Connor said identifying remains relieves family members of their anxiety, fear and denial.
鈥淔amilies can have closure,鈥 she said. 鈥淎nd they can begin planning that rite of passage with a funeral. That鈥檚 an important part of passage.鈥
Connor said her chances of returning to Haiti are slim.
鈥淭he question becomes, are further remains recoverable?鈥 she said. 鈥淪o many were buried in mass graves.鈥
Now that she鈥檚 home, Connor is sharing her experience with students. It鈥檚 an important part of the liberal arts education, she said. She鈥檚 sharing stories of what Haiti was like prior to the earthquake and photos of what the country looks like now. She鈥檚 educating her students about the responsibilities of disaster teams and showing them what a military MRE (meals, ready to eat) looks like.
And she鈥檚 encouraging her students to recognize how fortunate they really are.
鈥淧eople who haven鈥檛 had an encounter of that kind have no idea what it鈥檚 like to live on that level of poverty,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t makes you realize what you have.鈥