Doctors Without Borders

It’s International Nurses Day on May 12th-

Let a nurse in your life know how amazing they are!

Whether they scrub-up as nurse anesthetists in an operating theater, inject a vaccine to thousands of children in one day, manage the functioning of a hospital ward, travel hundreds of miles to install a mobile clinic in isolated communities or provide first screening for people rescued from a sinking boat, they are usually the first and last face patients will see when in our care.

If doctors have no borders; nurses definitely have no limits.

Conditions in Domiz refugee camp were dire when it first opened.

Women gave birth in their tents.

We set up a maternity unit with a 24-hour delivery room.

4 years.

1 maternity clinic.

3,400 babies delivered.

27,400 gynecological consultations.

Instagram post by @doctorswithoutborders

“I want people to know that refugees are artists, athletes, dancers, doctors, philosophers — human beings with ambitions and dreams as simple as finding a place to live, absent of danger and fear. I tell my story on behalf of those whose stories are untold – because I am one of the lucky ones.” - Doc Ahmed - physician, Forced From Home tour guide, and refugee

Stand with refugees on #WorldRefugeeDay- We call for greater international efforts to protect people fleeing for their lives from war or persecution.

ForcedFromHome on Twitter

Rebuilding lives shattered by war: testimonies from our patients and staff

For those wounded by fierce fighting in Mosul, Iraq, emergency trauma surgery is the beginning, rather than the end, of a long journey to recovery. As such, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) runs a 40-bed hospital in Hamdaniya, a town south of Mosul, to specifically cater to the needs of those recovering from surgery and attempting to rebuild their lives.

Abdulrahman, 11-year-old patient from western Mosul

“I was going to a food distribution when something exploded in the street next to me. I was hit in the chest and arm by shrapnel.”

Faten, five-year-old patient from western Mosul

Told by her father:

“When our neighborhood in western Mosul was retaken by the Iraqi army, we went back to our house. Faten was playing in the garden when a mortar bomb fell in the garden and exploded.

Now she is here in the post-operative ward in Hamdaniya Hospital. Every day the staff here clean her wounds and put new bandages on. Faten is a brave girl; she likes to play and laugh, but she misses her brothers and sisters at home and at night she cries.”

https://medium.com/@MSF_USA/the-beautiful-faces-of-mosul-7562d4dfcdb9

Meet Sarmad, 23, from Iraq.

Sarmad left his country because of the security situation. He lived in Turkey for a short time but decided to try and reach Europe.

He has lived inside Moria camp for the past eight months and he works as a barber to collect some money to live.

“… I am not talking only about myself, I am talking about all the refugees. Their life is difficult here, you can see, we live in tents. There have been problems here, some people died because of fire…we have had enough of war and of destruction, of explosions and killings every day, and of the houses collapsing on our heads. And we have come straight into psychological warfare.

Maybe we should come back to our country, then? That’s it, maybe if we are going to die, we should die in our country.”

In Belgrade, about 2,000 people, mainly from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Syria, are currently sleeping in abandoned buildings in the city center, while temperatures plummet far below freezing.

We are witnessing the most cruel and inhumane consequences of European policies, which are being used to deter and victimize those who are only seeking safety and protection in Europe

Witnessing the resilience of kids after fleeing their homes and communities

In May 2016, Dutch photographer Ton Koene traveled to Iraq to chronicle the daily lives of tens of thousands of internally displaced populations (IDPs) and returnees who have lost loved ones and belongings amid the raging battles in the country.

Doctors Without Borders provides mental health care, a non-communicable disease clinic, health promotions and community engagement activities within Khanaqin-Alwand camp in the central north of Iraq.

MSF Month in Focus Series: July 2016

These are the day to day activities and occurrences for not only our staff but the very people that MSF treats. From the humanitarian crisis in Nigeria to the fighting in Iraq, or the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean. Our operations encompass all parts of the world.

Come join us as we take a look at MSF’s Month In Focus.

“Go ahead, take a picture of me: I don’t really care about the consequences, I want the whole world to know what is going on”

An Internally displaced Iraqi talks to an MSF doctor before being treated at the Medical Center of Dibaga camp, near the city Makhmour, Iraqi Kurdistan, May 2016.(Manu Brabo / MEMO for MSF)

3 QUESTIONS: A new series asking MSF staff about field projects.

What would you ask?

Voice From the Field: The Massive Logistical Challenges of Working in Iraq

“The Future of the Whole Country Is Under a Heavy Cloud”

Iraq: Domiz Syrian refugee camp- Round the clock maternity unit. In 2015, we carried out 2081 post natal consultations. bit.ly/1SnLKP4

Our medical team continues to run services for chronic disease, sexual and reproductive care and mental health as well as carrying out regular health promotion activities in the Domiz camp.

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKUiU_78eKQ)

Striking footage of a joint rescue mission captured just off the shores of Lesbos, Greece:

During the first sea intervention by MSF and Greenpeace near the beach at Efthalou, a boat filled with families that travelled from Turkey ran aground and started capsizing. Those rescued include one newborn baby (about 2 months old) with his uncle (refugees from Iraq), and a young man from Syria. Everyone on the refugee boat was able to reach land while MSF reunited the family and friends after the arrival at port in Molyvos. Learn more at: http://bit.ly/1Nwd71d

Without pause & without mercy, the war continues. What Syrian Refugees face: http://reachofwar.msf.org/

Hope For War-Wounded Patients Needing Reconstructive Surgery

“This hospital has become a second home for me; I’ve made more friends here from the other patients than I have in Iraq. We get to watch football matches on TV. I support Real Madrid and I will always do so” - 15 year old Ahmad was injured when an ambushed car a few meters from his school building exploded.

Posts tagged iraq