{"id":1925,"date":"2016-02-03T09:48:33","date_gmt":"2016-02-03T14:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/?p=1925"},"modified":"2016-02-03T09:48:33","modified_gmt":"2016-02-03T14:48:33","slug":"zaatari-day-3-with-syrian-refugees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2016\/02\/zaatari-day-3-with-syrian-refugees\/","title":{"rendered":"Zaatari: Day 3 with Syrian Refugees"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ahmad<\/a>

Ahmad Yousaf, MD, is the 2015-16 Ambulatory Chief Resident in Internal Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.<\/p><\/div>\n

This is my third post about my trip to the Zaatari Refugee camp in Jordan with the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS). I will continue to share my daily journal entries with you in hopes of educating the American medical and nonmedical communities\u00a0about what I saw, erasing the irrational fears that have guided the discussion of refugees in this country, and as a form of therapy for\u00a0myself.<\/p>\n

\"32\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reflections from Day #3 with Syrian refugees:<\/h4>\n

1) The Zaatari refugee camp is both a fascinating human achievement and, simultaneously, a mark of shame on the record of humankind. There are organized shipping container-like abodes set up in miniature communities, with tiny malnourished, barefoot children roaming the streets despite the freezing cold. The supply distribution system is impressive,\u00a0but the condition of 80,000 innocent human beings stuck in a place far from the comforts of home is horrendous. There is a combination of hope and horror intertwined into the mundane life of waiting\/surviving in this limbo \u2014\u00a0people seem to just stare off into space, daydreaming of a home that probably doesn’t exist.<\/p>\n

\"mom<\/a><\/p>\n

2) The human spirit’s ability to simply survive is remarkable. A living hell exists in this world, and children with nothing to be happy about and EVERYTHING to cry about, push through and\u00a0flash peace signs and smiles. We were unworthy of those smiles but they graced us with wide eyes, excitement, and imagination we truly didn’t deserve.\"three<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3) The human touch in western medicine is severely underrated. Putting your hands on people, giving a big bear-hug, holding a child to your chest, shaking the hands of an elder respectfully… It is all we have to offer sometimes…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photography by Amal\u00a0Rass and Joshua\u00a0Margaritondo<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

One Syrian refugee described the refugee experience as a “slow death.” He contemplated whether or not going back to Syria was better because, at least if he died, it would be swifter than what he and his family were experiencing at the moment. He spoke of his people coming together again, in heaven. The following is a poem inspired by that conversation in combination with the news of the siege of the city of Madaya in Syria<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

The Slow<\/strong><\/p>\n

His cold fingers tighten around our necks, clasped,
\nThe last bit of air escapes and with it hope, collapsed,
\nThe deep sleep is to follow but the screams keep us from the Light,
\nDreams of feasts call us closer to slumber, but the pains of hunger keep us up this night,
\nOur mothers’ hands run over our bellies to fill them, a mercy,
\nOur fathers take up arms against the devils, to kill them, bravery.
\nBut they are murdered by the victory of a false god, an evil wrought,
\nWe only have prayer, the bitterness of salt and water sustains us not,
\nHe now surrounds us, his barrels facing the barrels of our chests,
\nOur ribs now part, what is inside now visible through the skin and bones of our breasts,
\nWe are but target practice, our hearts the bullseye,
\nOur names unknown, our value mistaken, too dry to cry,
\nWe see him now, his darkness begins its plodding embrace,
\nSqueezes us gradually, tightly towards his face,
\nWe meet his eyes and know the suffering is soon to be done,
\nWe now welcome his coolness and the calm that lays beyond, the One.
\nWe go limp in his arms, and up goes an army of lifted souls,
\nHe carries us from Zaatari and Madaya to another heaven above, an incomplete people to be again made whole,
\nAnd so the screams are replaced with laughter. Tears of joy, not despair, now fill our eyes,
\nThe Slow Death has delivered us and now we indulge in the everlasting supply of His Love in Paradise.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

~Yousaf<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

To donate to the Syrian American Medical Society, click this link\u00a0http:\/\/bit.ly\/1pmh8ZR<\/a> and scroll down to Jordan\u00a0missions.<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

If you have questions or are interested in volunteering, please reach out; even if you\u2019re not in the medical field, you\u2019ll be of help, especially if you speak\u00a0Arabic.<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is my third post about my trip to the Zaatari Refugee camp in Jordan with the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS). I will continue to share my daily journal entries with you in hopes of educating the American medical and nonmedical communities\u00a0about what I saw, erasing the irrational fears that have guided the discussion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1255,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,30,31,37],"class_list":["post-1925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-about-residency","tag-art-of-medicine","tag-international-medicine","tag-patient-care","tag-resident-experience"],"yoast_head":"\nZaatari: Day 3 with Syrian refugees<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"a resident's experience as a healthcare provider in a Syrian refugee camp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2016\/02\/zaatari-day-3-with-syrian-refugees\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zaatari: Day 3 with Syrian Refugees\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"a resident's experience as a healthcare provider in a Syrian refugee camp\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2016\/02\/zaatari-day-3-with-syrian-refugees\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Insights on Residency Training\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-03T14:48:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/07\/AU000_yousaf-125x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ahmad Yousaf, MD\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ahmad Yousaf, MD\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2016\/02\/zaatari-day-3-with-syrian-refugees\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2016\/02\/zaatari-day-3-with-syrian-refugees\/\",\"name\":\"Zaatari: Day 3 with Syrian refugees\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-03T14:48:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-03T14:48:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/f63133f13e995f74149b865993a32327\"},\"description\":\"a resident's experience as a healthcare provider in a Syrian refugee camp\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2016\/02\/zaatari-day-3-with-syrian-refugees\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2016\/02\/zaatari-day-3-with-syrian-refugees\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2016\/02\/zaatari-day-3-with-syrian-refugees\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Zaatari: Day 3 with Syrian Refugees\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/\",\"name\":\"Insights on Residency Training\",\"description\":\"Observation of residents across diverse medical specialties\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/f63133f13e995f74149b865993a32327\",\"name\":\"Ahmad Yousaf, MD\",\"description\":\"Ahmad Yousaf was born and raised in New Jersey. 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