Abu Dhabi Week visited the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) clinic in Amman, Jordan. We were humbled

to meet the innocent people whose lives have been ripped apart during the Syrian crisis and the dedicated MSF team helping to piece them back together again

 

Photo courtesy of Jared Cohler

Two young sisters smile as they try to catch a balloon thrown in the air by their dad, the children laugh uncontrollably as their father playfully hits the balloon out of reach. It’s an everyday scene of happy family life, except for the angry scars covering the little girls’ faces, bandages protecting tiny hands and feet, and the fact that this young family are in a Jordanian clinic as opposed to their family home in Syria.

 

On the 29th December 2011, Waleed, his pregnant wife Om Abed, daughters Rahaf and Qamar, and son Abdul Malek, were fast asleep in their beds when an airstrike tore through their home.

 

“Our entire house caught fire. I had to rescue my children,” Waleed said. He fought back flames to save his family, his arms are testament to that – every inch of skin is disfigured by deep scars, glove-like, running from the tips of his fingers to his elbows.

 

Waleed managed to get his family out alive; they were taken to a hospital in Homs and assessed by a Jordanian doctor. Om Abed wasn’t injured, however Waleed and the children were extremely badly burned. “The doctor said we needed treatment that wasn’t available in Syria. He told us to go to the MSF hospital in Amman,” Waleed said.

 

In Amman Om Abed gave birth to a healthy baby girl, while her husband and children underwent a series of skin grafts and cosmetic surgery operations.

 

“Skin grafting involves taking skin from another part of the body, extending it and sewing it in place. The little girls had grafts and we believe that MSF’s surgical team can do more to make the scars disappear,” said Dr Espen Collett.

 

Waleed added, “The doctors gave us great service and I’m so thankful to MSF; they give people life saving treatment which they would not have access to otherwise.”

Catriona Doherty

 

Caring from the capital

 

Despite political unrest ravaging areas of the Middle East this year, Abu Dhabi residents are fortunate enough to live in a safe and stable environment. But remember the capital is home to many Syrian residents who have no idea when it will be safe to return home again, and it’s important that we reach out to help those in need.

 

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) or Doctors Without Borders is an independent humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency aid in more that 70 countries worldwide. While MSF’s attempts to provide aid in Syria is limited due to restrictions, it has intensified its response to refugees who are crossing into Jordan.

 

In 2006 MSF opened a surgical project in Amman to treat those injured by violence in Iraq, but since then the project has expanded to treat Yemenis, Palestinians, Libyans and Syrians; now the hospital cares for 240 patients and surgeons carry out around 100 operations each month. The injured have the opportunity to avail of highly specialised surgery, physiotherapy and counselling so that they can reintegrate back into their communities.

 

“Patients disabled or disfigured by war seek MSF’s help to get back to their lives and families,” said Dr Chiara Lephora, UAE-based progamme manager for the project. “They have survived war’s horror, they overcome fear, pain, despair and accept the challenge to be far from their loved ones to get back their health. They deserve our respect and the best medical care we can give them,” she added.

 

MSF’s 2012 budget for treating patients in Amman is estimated at nearly AED 26 million. For more information on this project visit:

www.msf-me.org. Contact MSF’s Abu Dhabi office on: 02 631 7645 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it