“When I was younger I used to hear about doctors, ophthalmologists, you name it – they said they would go to Syria and help every three weeks in the summer. I thought that was a really awesome idea. I wanted to do this even before the conflict.” Even as a child,...
Hundreds wait outside my clinic. I call it a “clinic” but it could be anything from a disused storage shed to a makeshift school classroom for refugees. The patients know we only have a few minutes to talk about their symptoms before they disappear into a sea of tents or urban...
“Working with SAMS made me feel part of a brilliant community of great minds and spirits, committed to care for communities of refugees, not just through health but also through advocacy,” SAMS Global Response volunteer Dr. Kate Markham said of her work with SGR in Greece. Dr. Markham volunteered with our Global...
The extent and intensity of violence against health workers globally remained alarmingly high in 2016, the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition said in a new report today. The report also finds that accountability for committing these attacks remains inadequate or non-existent. The report, entitled Impunity Must End, documents attacks on...
Stopped eight times by the army as well as various uniformed officials for scheduled security checks at Beirut airport alone, one can sense the tense atmosphere in this country. 25% of Lebanon’s population is now Syrian refugees. It’s a country surrounded by decades of conflict with Palestine in the south...
Today, I spent the day in a specialty clinic in the Beka’a Valley. When I arrived, I asked the clinic staff how many patients were here to see me. A staff member answered, “15, but more may show up”. At 1 pm, after I had seen 12 patients, she suggested I...
Let’s start with a few quick facts about the Syrian American Medical Society. SAMS is a non-profit, non-political and non-religious medical relief organization. They provide financial support to the dwindling doctors and hospitals remaining in Syria, that continue to face attacks. Today, 5 million Syrian refugees are spread across the...
Our medical mission to Lebanon kicked off with a nice breakfast followed by group orientation with the 38 volunteers currently on SAMS’s medical mission to Lebanon. A few key statistics remind us of the gravity of the refugee crisis in Lebanon: Lebanon has a population of approximately 6 million. It is...
It’s now 4:40pm in Amman, and 8:40am in Chicago as I write this from 30,000 feet up above the Atlantic. (I mean “writing” in the literal sense – thanks to the #ElectronicsBan on flights from Arab cities, I’m rediscovering how atrocious my longhand is.) As I begin my reentry to...
This morning, making my rounds of the breakfast tables, I had the following (paraphrased, I don’t have a photographic memory) conversation with Sami Diab: “We had a patient (at Azraq camp) that we couldn’t help with our materials. He was an elderly gentleman, and he already had a set of dentures...
Every day is a new experience on a SAMS mission, as we rotate through different areas of the country serving those in need. Going to bed last night, I also tried to put to bed some of the emotions from the day before. The schedule moves on forward, and therefore...
The day began at 4:50 am. It took me 36 hours, but I’m more or less over jet lag and I was grateful for 4 hours of sleep. The first day of the mission is full of nervous energy, making sure that all of the different providers and teams are...
