Looking for Trouble

WPSR delegation to Gaza hard at work, by Gerri Haynes

(Gerri Haynes, former president of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, has returned to Gaza with a delegation of doctors, nurses and others interested in helping the people there. Gerri will be sending back reports.)

Day Two Gaza

Going to Work

Following a morning orientation, all of the delegates turned to work this morning. From clinic work to meeting with Gazans traumatized by war, we again experience the courage of the people here.

It’s 11:30 PM now, and Dr. Richard Grady is still operating. His work to help children with urologic conditions has brought him back to Gaza for the fifth time. Children born with ambiguous genitalia and those who develop other complex problems are the focus of Dr. Grady’s work. As he works, he teaches procedures – helping other surgeons prepare to do this delicate surgery.

Today was the second anniversary of the death of Italian journalist/activist, Vittorio Arrigoni. Vittorio lived most of the last three years of his life in Gaza, supporting the fishermen, writing articles about the plight of Gaza under siege, and authoring books – the most famous titled “Stay Human.” He was critical of extremist Islamic groups and one of those groups is commonly blamed for his kidnap and murder in Gaza.

At the Port this afternoon, several hundred people gathered to commemorate Vittorio and others whose lives were cut short while working for the end of the siege in Gaza – including Rachel Corrie and Tom Hurndall. Following words of thanks and commemoration, people took boats into the harbor to call for the freedom of Gaza and to throw red carnations of memory and thanks onto the water. There are many internationals living in Gaza or who come here frequently to support the people and to work with the 1.7 million people who live here.

Trauma and emergency medicine have, by necessity, become major areas of focus in Gaza. Family medicine and emergency physician, Bill Dienst and Cardiologist, Bob Haynes, are consulting in these areas and teaching the essential skills of advanced cardiac life support. Look for their report in a coming blog.

Nurses in our group are seeing patients and consulting on the care of patients in their specialty areas – including neurology, intensive and emergency care and end-of-life.

Three practitioners are seeing patients in the physiotherapy. Two are massage therapists and one, a chiropractor, were busy until late evening today, seeing patients in two of the hospitals.

This will be a busy week for the members of our delegation and this is possible only because the staff of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme have worked many hours to find areas of need for our various skills. As this is the sixth medical delegation supported by Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, friendships have been made.

One of the joys of returning is seeing those “old” friends again and hearing about their lives. One staff member who is helping us told me today that, in his mid-twenties, he has never been out of the Gaza Strip – an area of about 360 square kilometers.

I’ll write more about the health effects of living under siege, but the trauma of living under the constant threat or reality of aerial, ground and sea attack has affected each person who lives here. The spirit of these loving people continues to inspire us.