MSF’s mental health support programme helps some of South Sudan’s estimated 19,500 former child soldiers come to terms with their experiences as they reintegrate their communities. Project Update - 5 Oct 2018

37 year old Syrian Abdul Rahman Al Hamad has been on the Greek Island of Lesbos for one year. He left Syria because he “didn’t want to kill people in the war.” Adbul was conscripted into the army, but refused to join in what he says were “the mistakes” he witnessed – the rape and murder of innocent civilians. As punishment, for 14 days he was locked in a cell and tortured: “they put me in a cell alone, under the ground, everyday a strong man with a long beard beat me - everywhere in my body, and in my private area too, which has caused me so many problems, even now. They gave me food once a day.” Referring to an attempted rape he says “one night a soldier came and he wanted to do bad things to me. I fought him off.” Abdul has suffered severe trauma since. “The nightmares and the inability to sleep has become normal,” he says, “in my nightmares I see soldiers killing innocent people shooting them and cutting their throats… This dream comes back every night. I can’t sleep 15 minutes without having this dream.” Three times he has tried to kill himself. He sought help from Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, a medical humanitarian organisation) who offered him medication. “Now I can sleep. Now I can eat. It helped,” he says. But the Post Traumatic Stress he is living with continues to plague him: “I don’t have any hope for my future, they destroyed everything. They destroyed my dreams.”Thousands of people looking for safety from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Congo continue to risk their lives to reach Europe. Those who try to arrive via Turkey and the Aegean Sea have been trapped for an indefinite period of time on islands in Greece as part of the EU/Turkey deal and its deterrence and containment approach. In Lesvos (Lesbos), there are currently more than 7,500 people in a camp made for a maximum of 2500. With the camp so full refugees are now staying in an informal extension of the camp known as Olive Grove. The awful conditions at Moria camp/Olive Grove and arbitrary administrative situations have had a dramatic impact on their health and in particular their mental health. Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, a medical humanitarian organisation) teams provide medical and mental health support out of the Moria camp and they run a clinic for severe mental health cases in Mytilene, the capital of the island. Photo Robin Hammond/Witness Change. Lesbos, Greece. 01 May 2018.

test

test - 4 Oct 2018

Afghanistan

“My sister, I will take care of you”

Gynaecologist Dr Séverine Caluwaerts shares her unique insight into MSF’s maternity ward in Khost, eastern Afghanistan, and the stories of its patients and staff. Voices from the Field - 3 Oct 2018

Afghanistan

Illustrating MSF’s busiest maternity ward

Illustrator Aurélie Neyret and her comic ‘Hila: Born in Afghanistan’ help tell the stories of patients and staff at MSF’s maternity ward in Khost, eastern Afghanistan. Project Update - 3 Oct 2018

Twenty-two year-old Eyad was shot in the leg during the ‘Great March of Return’ demonstrations in Gaza on the 14th May – one of the deadliest days witnessed by MSF teams in the six months of protests. He needs a bone graft and limb reconstructive surgery which is not currently possible inside the Gaza strip. Eyad’s case has been accepted for treatment at the MSF’s specialist surgical hospital in Amman, Jordan – but for people living in Gaza, requesting the authorisation to leave from the Israeli authorities is a lengthy, difficult process which often ends with a refusal.

“I still remember vividly the day I was shot: the bullet entered my leg like an injection and then I felt a hot sensation on my other leg. I looked down and saw lots of blood, and I realised I had been wounded. I was in so much pain.

After the bullet entered my leg I started to shake, and it felt like I had electricity coursing through my body. At first, I was stunned by what I saw. I thought I was going to lose my leg and become an amputee.

I was shot on the 14 May 2018. Like a lot of Palestinians I was shot in the leg. It just goes to show how barbaric the Israeli army was towards us that day.

I went to the demonstrations because I love my country and I am trying to defend it. I wanted to show everyone that we have the right to our lands and the right to have our homes back. The demonstration was peaceful. Then the Israeli army started shooting. I knew it was going to be dangerous, so I went alone. I didn’t want to see any of my friends injured or killed. I wanted to free our land, our home, our sacred places. Israel can take all they want; I just want them to give us back our land.
My mother tried to convince me not to go and begged me to stay at home. She called my grandparents to try and persuade me. But they could not stop me. I had made up my mind.
Ever since I was shot I’ve had trouble sleeping. When I sleep, it feels like knives are moving inside my leg and electricity is coursing through my body. I don’t move around a lot, I don’t go out; only if I have to. I prefer not to move around a lot because it is just so painful.

My parents and siblings are caring for me – they take good care of me. They bring me whatever I need.

“All I hope is to be able to walk normally again”

I go to MSF’s clinic in Gaza three times a week for dressing changes and to have physiotherapy. My condition started to improve after the first debridement operation, which cleaned the gunshot wound and took out the infected blood. I have had about six operations, including the debridement of the wound, attaching the external fixator to stabilise the bone, and a skin graft where they took skin from my thigh to cover the gunshot wound.

The next stages of my treatment must be done in Jordan, at the MSF reconstructive surgical hospital in Amman. They plan to use a bone graft to fix the shattered bone, and a plastic surgeon will then reconstruct my damaged leg. When I heard they wanted to send me to Jordan I was full of fear because I thought the Israeli army wouldn’t let me leave Gaza. I thought I’d have to have an amputation. But once I heard that the Amman hospital had accepted me, I started to feel hopeful again. I started to see that things might be ok. Now I am just waiting to see if I am permitted to leave Gaza.

“I have lost everything”

I left school at high school and I don’t have a job. Actually, this is one of the main reasons I went to the border to demonstrate, because I don’t have job and I don’t have anything to do. I wish I could work.

But there is no work in Gaza. I am a musician, it’s not a profitable job, but I love to play instruments like the flute and drums.

Have I returned to the protests? That is an embarrassing question... no, I haven’t. After experiencing this amount of pain and losing so much of my life from what happened, I don’t want to go back.

I have lost friends, I have lost the ability to go out or move around as I wish. I find it difficult to play my instruments. I have lost everything.
My only hope is to return to how I used to be.
But I know that won’t happen... I can’t swim or play football anymore. I was a really good footballer. I’m not able to run the way I used to. I just hope that, with further surgery, I will be able to walk normally again, without any pain. That’s all I hope.

“It is overwhelming to see your friends die.”

My friends still go to the demonstrations; some of them have also been wounded. One of my friends also got shot and now has almost exactly the same injury as me. Another friend who helped me when I was injured has been killed. He was at a demonstration helping another wounded person when he died.
I am trying to convince other people not to go to the demonstrations. I don’t want them to experience the pain I have. The negatives of protesting outweigh the positives. Going there is so dangerous: people may lose their hopes and futures. They need to stay away: the Israeli army is really violent.

As Palestinians, we want these protests to be peaceful. But Israel sees this as a violation of their freedom. All we want is to return to our lands. We protest to show everyone that we are Arab, that we are all together in this, and that we support each other. That’s why we go to the demonstrations.

Palestine

“When I sleep, it feels like knives moving through my leg”

Eyad, 22, describes how he was shot in the leg during the ‘Great March of Return’ demonstrations in Gaza on 14 May, his treatment since and his hopes for the future. Voices from the Field - 2 Oct 2018

Yemen

MSF suspends activities after attack in Ad Dhale

MSF strongly condemns attacks against its staff and asks for protection for humanitarian workers and patients. Statement - 2 Oct 2018

Dr Mohammed Abu Mughaiseeb, MSF medical referent in Gaza

Palestine

“Nothing can prepare you for this”

Dr Mohammed Abu Mughaiseeb, MSF medical referent in Gaza, describes the shocking volume of wounded arriving from the fence over the last six months and their bleak long-term prospects. Voices from the Field - 2 Oct 2018

Speaking Out videos: MSF and the war in the former Yugoslavia 1991-2003

A child walks on an elevated foot path reinforced by sandbags in the Unchiprang camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

Rohingya refugee crisis

Crisis update – September 2018

September 2018 update on activities in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh, providing care for Rohingya refugees who have fled Myanmar. Crisis Update - 1 Oct 2018

Bangladesh

Shanti Khana: Bringing peace to Rohingya refugees

Prodjut Roy, a mental health supervisor with MSF, describes the mental health needs among Rohingya refugees and what has been done to break down the stigma associated with mental health services. Project Update - 28 Sep 2018

Four mothers posing in a corridor of the Hospital in Bili. All four of them are staying in the hospital with their child, that's suffering from a severe case of malaria. Since the beginning of the project in 2016, the pediatric ward already treated more than 4.000 cases of complicated/severe form of malaria.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Independent medical humanitarian assistance

We provide medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare. Our teams are made up of tens of thousands of health professionals, logistic and administrative staff - most of them hired locally. Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of independence and impartiality. We are a non-profit, self-governed, member-based organisation.

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Helping Yambio’s demobilised child soldiers come to terms with their past