COURAGE ON THE frontlines
They’re women on a mission and they’ve been in Iraq working to save lives amid the fight to take back the city of Mosul from Islamic State. Despite the news that ISIS has been defeated in the city, the humanitarian crisis continues. At the peak of the act
IRISH PUBLIC-HEALTH SPECIALIST, FORMER SURGICAL/TRAUMA NURSE AND MOTHER OF TWO BOYS
I have a vocation to do humanitarian work. I’m passionate about what I do and look for a challenge. Someone once asked why I take the most difficult road, but they assumed I see two roads! I’ve worked in Sierra Leone during the Ebola epidemic, South Sudan, Benin and Eastern Europe, but the most difficult was Romania due to the suffering of the children. Mosul is now suffering and the inhumanity is immeasurable.
We work 24/7, which entails sleeping fully clothed and always with one eye open. Headlamps become like a third arm as there’s no electricity and the generator frequently chokes up due to poor-quality diesel. It’s important to keep a sense of humour somehow, until the casualties start coming in. I’m strict on cleanliness to avoid illness among the team. I make sure people are constantly washing their hands. There’s no running water and no working toilet. It’s a balancing act in the bathroom to wash as much as possible in a bucket with the scarce amount of water. Laundry is a quick rinse. Breakfast and dinner arrive by ambulance or humvee from the military. We eat together, huddled around a table with candles or our headlamps. I try to keep up the team’s morale and make sure there is an open level of communication. Honesty and transparency are key. Not having enough translators makes it hard to get things done, and coordinating a very diverse group of people with little or no experience isn’t easy. Teamwork is crucial, especially when multiple casualties arrive. As a woman, it’s difficult being in Iraq. People don’t always understand why I go, but I allow criticism and I don’t try to justify my choice, nor do I seek approval. Only the opinions of my close family matter. Saving lives, alleviating suffering and bringing humanity is the greatest satisfaction of the mission. There was one young man, Ahmed. He was brought to the clinic after he had escaped ISIS. They tortured him in brutal, inhumane ways that I’ll never be able to forget. But he survived. Sometimes if there’s no activity, a group of us will huddle around a tiny screen to watch a movie. The men protest at the romantic ones but, in the end, huddling brings warmth when it’s 10°C outside and the house isn’t heated. I love to crochet, knit and read. I’m reading the Koran in English to better understand this primary holy text of the Islamic faith. When the mission ends, the friendships I’ve made will be hard to leave behind. When you work so closely, you develop intense relationships. Bonds become stronger in times of war. People in the Western world don’t have this kind of connection born out of adversity.
“Saving lives and alleviating suffering is the greatest satisfaction of the mission”