27 November 2015
The ongoing conflict in Syria has led to millions of Syrian people being displaced. Assisting refugees scattered in the region, can take a horrible toll on one's psyche, as it has on one aid worker.
À. was working in the oil branch in Syria, before his area became the stronghold of the Islamic State. As the civil war escalated and life became more dangerous, he choose to become a humanitarian aid worker helping his own people on the run for atrocities. He was captured by ISIS and detained for his humanitarian relief efforts.
I cannot mention his name, out of fear for punishment or repercussions for himself or his family members. It is believed ISIS constantly keeps an eye on him and other aid workers. They are wanted by ISIS and helping others can become their death sentence. I have noticed that the Syrian staff working for World Vision still feel unsafe, and live in constant terror in this troubled region.
My job is to help À .find a way to deal with the demons that haunt him from serving fellow humans as he is suffering from the psychological consequences. In limited time and during a war which has so far achieved nothing except bloodshed.
His story during his therapy session today, has left me speechless. His experiences during detention are indescribable. So I'm not even going to try and write these down. Words will fall short in describing the pain and suffering endured by this individual. Instead I salute his perseverance and willingness to continue his humanitarian work in an extremely violent setting.
My concern right now is that I only have little time to help him and his colleagues. This lack of time and their reality of an ongoing war situation limits comprehensive psychological treatment methods. Helping people to mitigate the effects of their traumas is pretty much all we can do.
Despite the suffering of fellow aid workers, life goes on and we concluded the day celebrating the birthday of a colleague. Personally I am doing well, and tonight I am grateful for not living in a war-torn country. I will never be able to grasp the pain people inflict on each other. As I settle in for the night I am looking forward to a free afternoon tomorrow. My thought before going to sleep is that we cannot give up on Syria. And we must certainly not give up on aid workers.
À. was working in the oil branch in Syria, before his area became the stronghold of the Islamic State. As the civil war escalated and life became more dangerous, he choose to become a humanitarian aid worker helping his own people on the run for atrocities. He was captured by ISIS and detained for his humanitarian relief efforts.
I cannot mention his name, out of fear for punishment or repercussions for himself or his family members. It is believed ISIS constantly keeps an eye on him and other aid workers. They are wanted by ISIS and helping others can become their death sentence. I have noticed that the Syrian staff working for World Vision still feel unsafe, and live in constant terror in this troubled region.
My job is to help À .find a way to deal with the demons that haunt him from serving fellow humans as he is suffering from the psychological consequences. In limited time and during a war which has so far achieved nothing except bloodshed.
His story during his therapy session today, has left me speechless. His experiences during detention are indescribable. So I'm not even going to try and write these down. Words will fall short in describing the pain and suffering endured by this individual. Instead I salute his perseverance and willingness to continue his humanitarian work in an extremely violent setting.
My concern right now is that I only have little time to help him and his colleagues. This lack of time and their reality of an ongoing war situation limits comprehensive psychological treatment methods. Helping people to mitigate the effects of their traumas is pretty much all we can do.
Despite the suffering of fellow aid workers, life goes on and we concluded the day celebrating the birthday of a colleague. Personally I am doing well, and tonight I am grateful for not living in a war-torn country. I will never be able to grasp the pain people inflict on each other. As I settle in for the night I am looking forward to a free afternoon tomorrow. My thought before going to sleep is that we cannot give up on Syria. And we must certainly not give up on aid workers.
Het zijn niet veel worden die ik kan zeggen ....maar wel zo gemeend.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenRespect diep respect Geert priem voor het werk wat je doet.
Wat een prachtig geschreven stuk die een goede weergave geeft van het respect wat Geert van mij krijgt.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenRespect voor dit verhaal.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenWat je als hulpverlener mee maakt in kampen is vaak moeilijk te beschrijven.
Ik heb in diverse kampen gezeten in Bosnië en Noord Afrika en ben er gelukkig goed uit gekomen maar toen men collega om niets door het hoofd werd geschoten was de maat vol. Maar hulpverlener zijn stop je niet zomaar en kwam het dat ik nog 5 jaar door werkte voor AZG en het Red Cross.
Ik wens je echt alle sterkte van de wereld.