A picture is worth a thousand words
Our teams continued to provide lifesaving and life-changing medical care in over 70 countries around the world in 2018.
Photojournalists and staff photographers were there beside them – bearing witness to and capturing the work of our dedicated teams, and the stories of the individuals and communities they assist.
Whether caught in or fleeing conflict and violence, affected by disease or epidemics, or hit by natural disasters, our patients each have their own unique story to tell. Stories of suffering and vulnerability, bravery and resilience. These pictures of the year (taken between November 2017 and December 2018) showcase a select few.
![Nashwan, 42, is prepared for surgery at the Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) post-operative care facility in east Mosul. Nashwan is one of the many war-wounded patients still trying to recover a year after the conflict in Mosul officially ended.
“On 11 March 2017, our neighbourhood was retaken [from the Islamic State group],” Nashwan recalls. “Two days later, we went out to buy food and we were happy. But fighting was continuing in the neighbourhoods around ours. There was a tall building nearby and there was a sniper on top. He started hunting us down. My neighbour was shot in the head and killed. My brother was shot in the leg. The sniper shot me in the back and in the leg.”
Nashwan went to several hospitals outside Mosul for treatment. He then returned to his home in west Mosul where the conflict was still raging.
“I waited in my home for several months for the bombs to stop,” he says. “When I was at home during these seven months the pain started to grow in my leg and hip, and eventually it became unbearable. So in October 2017 I went to the general hospital in west Mosul. They did x-rays and tests and they said I needed a huge operation and they didn't have the capacity to do the operation.”
Nashwan’s neighbours helped him pay for a private doctor to do the operation, but it was unsuccessful and Nashwan was soon in agonising pain again. He was forced to go back to the general hospital, which then referred him to MSF’s surgery and post-operative care facility in east Mosul.
“Life has been really hard. My injury has had a negative impact on my life - my family, the way I interact with my kids. I can’t play with them. I can't work and we haven’t had an income. I've been really depressed and I cannot talk to people. Even to go to the bathroom I need someone to come with me. And I need the crutches to go everywhere. It's been really hard for me. But thankfully the hardest part has passed now that I am here.”
The MSF facility provides free surgeries, post-operative care, rehabilitation and mental healthcare, especially for war-wounded patients. MSF works closely with local health authorities to refer the most urgent patients for care.
The facility is run by a team of 30 highly qualified international and Iraqi medical experts and has a 33-bed capacity.](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/11n5mc8084ew76c43umrm13pb0jh3a6r.jpg "Nashwan - war wounded - Mosul")
