A Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City

Across the world today there are 42 million refugees and IDPs uprooted by war, famine and natural disasters; a nearly incomprehensible number, 42 million individuals with individual yet eerily analogous life stories, hopes and shattered dreams, displaced and forced to live without a home, without family, a stranger in foreign lands away from all that they once knew. Fleeing with nothing but hope in the humanity of others and their faith in a higher power. Doctors without Borders or also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) are at the fore front of providing aid to these millions, through medical care, food and shelter and information to the needy and helpless. Doctors Without Borders is an “international independent medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflicts, epidemics, malnutrition, natural disasters and exclusion from health care in more than 60 countries” across the world. On any one day 27,000 individuals ranging from doctors, nurses, logistics experts, administrators, epidemiologists, laboratory techs, mental health professionals and others can be found upholding the humanitarian principles of medical ethics and impartiality, by providing quality healthcare to people regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation.

October 31st to November 1st 2009, Doctors Without Borders touring exhibit, “A refugee camp in the heart of the city” came to Santa Monica, next to the Pier. The exhibit featured a surreal tour of a makeshift refugee camp. It highlighted various aspects of a refugee camp including different forms of shelters, food stores, medical tents, and other stations commonly found and needed in these camps. The tour was given by former and current MFS volunteers, who intertwined their own real experiences working abroad with the gripping visuals portrayed to the audience on the walkthrough. The tour featured several stations where participants learned of various aspects of life as a refugee. Each station was introduced in the form of a question for in the point of view of the refugee, “Where will I live? Where will I find Water? Where will I go to the bathroom? What if I get sick?” and “How long will I be here?” And at each station the tour guide addressed the various problems, and how refugees cope with them, and MSF’s involvement. The exhibit a huge success also included lectures at local campuses. The exhibit from here moves to Northern California.

MSF’s work abroad and in a more generalized sense the safeguarding of the world’s poor and suffering, as cliché as it sounds, holds a special place in my heart. In the future I hope to see myself working for an organization like Doctors without Borders and going abroad and volunteering my time and skills as a medical professional. I find myself especially drawn to this cause because the majority of refugees share the same beliefs and ideals as me, and were persecuted on that basis. The majority of refugees come from Muslim backgrounds, from the deserts of Somalia to the peaks of Albania. Refugees from Palestine number 4.6 million, Afghanistan 3.1 million, and Iraq’s 2.3 million.

“Humanitarian action is based on the conviction that ordinary people caught in conflict and crisis, whoever and whoever they be, deserve to be spared from the excesses of violence and to receive lifesaving assistance that is impartial, neutral and free from political or religious agendas.” This statement encompasses my beliefs and my desire to be the keeper of my brothers and sisters abroad, to be among the guardians of humanity, the abettor to those who have lost everything. It will be a long difficult journey, but I am determined to use medicine as an instrument abroad to bring peace to lands torn apart by discrimination and animosity.