‘You want you may do extra’: dentist Farah Elnaqa shares the fact of offering dental care remedy in a refugee camp, together with the troublesome choices she needed to make.
For years, the considered volunteering lingered in my thoughts – a want to offer again, to make use of my expertise in a significant approach. I wasn’t positive the place or how, however I felt that it was a calling I couldn’t ignore.
I longed for one thing that would offer a deeper sense of objective, one thing past the day by day routine. After I heard about my buddy’s expertise volunteering with the Disaster Administration Affiliation (CMA) in Lesvos, Greece, it clicked. This was the chance I had been looking for.
A much bigger objective
Curious, I did some analysis on CMA, a Greek-registered nonprofit which supplied important medical companies to refugees and asylum seekers within the Mavrovouni refugee camp. That they had been urgently calling for dentists for weeks. Although I had deliberate to volunteer later, I realised that there was no cause to attend. So I advised my office, booked my flights, and ready for the following problem: fundraising.
With little time to fundraise, I set a objective of £2,500. Uncertain if I might attain it, I reached out to everybody I might – sufferers, buddies, anybody who may assist. The response was humbling; with so many individuals displaying an awesome willingness to assist, and in only a week, I raised almost £4,000.
Because the day approached, nerves set in. I used to be frightened in regards to the feelings I knew I might really feel whereas being there. A buddy inspired me to consider what would occur if I didn’t go – and what may occur if I did. That thought stayed with me, and I knew I couldn’t flip away from this.
I knew it will be emotionally difficult, however this was about one thing greater than my worries – it was about displaying up for individuals who wanted somebody keen to strive. So, with a deep breath, I packed my luggage. The anticipation of creating a distinction steadied me, and with a objective greater than myself, I discovered the power to step into the unknown.
The perilous journey to Lesvos
Lesvos is a serene Greek island only a few miles from the Turkish coast, however for refugees, it represents a gateway to hope – and sometimes the final leg of a terrifying ordeal.
The island sits alongside the Japanese Mediterranean route, a well-traveled however harmful path. Refugees typically start their journey distant from Lesvos, in war-torn nations corresponding to Afghanistan, Syria and Sudan, overlaying hundreds of kilometres on foot. As soon as refugees attain Turkey, many try the perilous crossing to Lesvos.
The Aegean Sea, solely 10 kilometres vast at its narrowest level, may seem like a small hurdle. However for these pressured into overcrowded boats, it turns into a demise lure. Life jackets are scarce, and boats are packed past capability. The ocean crossing has claimed hundreds of lives, with tales of households misplaced to the waves or separated within the chaos.
Surviving the journey to Lesvos is only the start. For individuals who make it, the aid shortly fades as they face new challenges within the refugee camp, the place overcrowding, restricted assets, and an unsure future await them. Residing in a refugee camp like Mavrovouni means indefinite ready, typically with out correct healthcare, housing, training or work alternatives.
Arriving at Mavrovouni refugee camp
My first glimpse of the refugee camp in Greece felt surreal. Rows of white tents, every stamped with ‘UNHCR’ (United Nations Excessive Commissioner for Refugees), stretched throughout the panorama – a sight I’d solely ever seen on information studies from what felt like distant, summary locations.
However standing there, it was all out of the blue, undeniably actual. Nothing might have ready me for the fact of the camp – the sheer scale of it. A sprawling space stuffed with tents and ‘Isoboxes’ – transformed delivery containers that function makeshift houses, clinics and registration centres.
The camp operates beneath intense safety, with a robust police presence guarding the entry and exit factors. All people, together with volunteers and employees, should bear ID checks and log out and in upon entry and exit. These measures, whereas essential for sustaining security, inevitably create a way of confinement and surveillance all through the camp.
Challenges in offering care
The dental clinic was contained inside its personal Isobox, with simply two surgical procedures and a small decontamination space between them. It wasn’t a lot, but it surely was what we had. Most of the supplies and tools we take with no consideration again house merely weren’t there, so I typically needed to improvise.
There have been no dental nurses, solely volunteers who did their greatest with none formal coaching. Regardless of the constraints, we took each measure attainable to maintain procedures sterile and secure, though there was a stark distinction to the extent of care that I had grow to be accustomed to.
Sufferers had been triaged the day earlier than by docs from the Boat Refugee Basis (BRF) – the one emergency medical supplier for your complete camp – however regardless of this technique in place, there was all the time a line of individuals ready outdoors the clinic, determined for care.
Most individuals arrived with rampant caries or infections – ache that had been increase for months – and the precise reason behind their ache was typically unclear. With restricted time and diagnostic instruments, I needed to rely closely on expertise and instinct.
Troublesome selections
You do your greatest to alleviate their ache, understanding that’s typically all there’s time for, however a sense lingers that you simply want you may do extra. With out the time or tools for extra complicated work, I needed to make troublesome selections, and sometimes, extractions had been the one technique to convey aid.
Root canal remedy or extra complete care merely weren’t choices right here. Sufferers would plead with me to do extra, understanding they could not be capable to see one other dentist anytime quickly. However there was solely a lot time and so many others ready. I discovered myself questioning if I used to be making the fitting selections, continuously questioning whether or not I used to be doing sufficient.
Sufferers confirmed indicators of dental care they’d acquired of their house nations – many with crowns and bridgework – however the harsh journey and months with out correct care had taken a severe toll on their oral well being. Many sufferers held out hope that, as soon as they reached nations like Germany, they’d lastly get the care they wanted, however I knew the wait might stretch out for months and even years.
You do your greatest to alleviate their ache, understanding that’s typically all there’s time for, however a sense lingers that you simply want you may do extra
The toughest half was treating youngsters who couldn’t perceive why they had been in ache, or that I used to be attempting to assist. For a lot of, ache had been a continuing a part of their lives, and this second was no totally different.
That they had recognized nothing however hardship and loss for so long as they may keep in mind. That they had lived by trauma for thus lengthy, and it damage to know that regardless that I used to be attempting, I couldn’t actually supply them the aid they so desperately wanted. With the restrictions of our clinic and no referral pathway obtainable, I did what I might with what I had, understanding it was typically removed from sufficient.
Reflecting on the expertise
Trying again at my time in Lesvos, I’m struck by how a lot this expertise has reworked me. I went there hoping to assist, to make a distinction, however what I acquired in return was way over I ever anticipated. The folks I met on the island had endured a lot – loss, displacement, concern – but they continued to maneuver ahead, with a power I can barely comprehend.
It was a strong reminder that none of us can management the circumstances of our beginning, and for these of us who’re lucky, the privilege lies in having the ability to assist. In one other place or time, it might have simply been us of their footwear.
Volunteering at Mavrovouni has been probably the most difficult and significant expertise of my life. It has profoundly formed me, pushing me past my consolation zone, each emotionally and bodily, but it surely has additionally opened my eyes to the ability of compassion.
There’s a distinctive peace present in caring for others – a sense that resonates deeply inside, affirming that our truest objective is present in giving. I’m ceaselessly grateful for the privilege to witness such resilience, to be taught from those that confronted such adversity, and to have performed a small half of their journey.
To my colleagues: I urge you to think about volunteering with CMA. Camps like Mavrovouni are in determined want of dental professionals. For these residing in these camps, each effort issues, each hour spent makes a distinction, and each act of care helps restore humanity to those that want it most.
The expertise will check you, humble you, and alter your perspective on what it actually means to observe dentistry.
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