In addition
to my colleague and I there are four doctors, three nurses, two dermatologists, a local
dentist, a psychiatrist, and about 15 or so other helpers, translators,
photographers, and “humanitarians.” Most of these people are returning volunteers and they are from all over the world.
It got off to an eventful start when we were coming through customs after landing in Amman and couldn't help but get stopped because of our 12 matching duffle bags full of medical supplies. We had all the proper documentation and duty-free status with certified letters stating that it was for humanitarian purposes only and intended for Syrian refugees--but it never even made it to the baggage carousel at baggage claim. We were left standing there empty handed when the thing shut off.
After spending about an hour with the baggage handlers who finally felt satisfied, we still had to exit customs and ended up getting stopped again. After another 30 minutes they said they were keeping it and we could try to "come back tomorrow." Unfortunately this was all in Arabic so I was a little vague on the exact wording. In a panic, I pulled out all the stuff to show him that the vast majority of supplies were innocuous; things like diaper rash cream, baby blankets, sunscreen, and creams. Luckily, that worked, and we got it all out, including the medications, and raced to the van.
Today we went to the town of Madaba and were welcomed by a
long line of Jordanian officials and members of Parliament in bright red and white head
scarves. They had given us a large community center for the day and the
different rooms were set up for medical, dermatology, dentistry, counseling, and
humanitarian (which are mainly non-medical items like coloring books and toys for the kids who also played games together). In total, about 420 patients were seen today, roughly 100 in the
dermatology room where we were stationed.As I’ve been reading about refugees in Jordan, I learned that the vast majority of them, over 500,000, are living and roaming through the various neighborhoods of Jordan. Only a little over 100,000 are actually in the three official refugee camps and the vast majority of those are in Al-Zaatari, now the biggest in Jordan and the size of a major city here. The Jordanian government has recently severely restricted the numbers of refugees they allow in from Syria (due in large part to fears of extremists sneaking through) and had also cut off free medical care for Syrians.
What surprised me today is that most everything was some version of acne, sun damage, and extremely dry skin. There were a few more serious cases of scabies and some burns, but most people were just very uncomfortable, dry, itchy and burnt. Even though these people today didn't technically live in a refugee camp, they are extremely exposed and the weather here is quite harsh and sunscreen and lotions are quite expensive. While they sound like minor things, everyday things for us, these basic commodoties go a long way. As does knowing that people out there are looking out for them.
It's so hectic during the day that it's hard to spend the time to talk to people and hear their story. But everyone here has a story. This 8-yr old girl came in because she had scars on her face from when her town was bombed in Syria and her family just ran. Her father was killed and now it's her and her younger brother and mom living in a foreign country on their own. Grace, the dermatologist we are with, didn't have anything for the scars, but she listened to the story and hugged the girl, and just told her she was beautiful. They were buddies the rest of the day.
Tomorrow we’re going to another town about an hour and a
half from Amman a bit closer to the Syrian border.
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