Nicholas Papachrysostomou dedicated several years of his life to traveling and writing. One day he was in Greece, his native country, giving a lecture on the nomadic way of life, when he was approached by a girl from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) who had been in the audience. She suggested that he join her humanitarian aid organization, but he wasn’t even sure who she was. Nicholas said he would think about it. Almost ten years later, he has become MSF Emergency Coordinator. On November 14, Nicho, as his colleagues call him, entered southern Gaza, with 12 other MSF people, to restart humanitarian aid activities that were suspended with the outbreak of the war. After more than a month in the Strip, he spoke with La Vanguardia.
What was your impression when you arrived in Gaza and what feeling did you leave with?
The day we entered through Rafah we walked for half an hour through a completely abandoned area. I only saw a lady driving her cart with a donkey, nothing more. She was asking me what world I am entering. But little by little I saw the first destroyed buildings, heard the bombs and that’s when I began to form an impression. Now that same place is so packed you can barely get through the roads. The city itself is a refugee camp. The change is so visible that you have shops, garbage piling up and black water everywhere. I don’t recognize the situation I found when I arrived.
What is it like caring for patients under constant bombardment?
Plans change constantly, I tell you several incidents. We started supporting a clinic in the city of Khan Younis and we had to suspend it for seven days because they asked us to evacuate the area. Another day, we were in a meeting at a hospital and the director of the center was speaking, when suddenly three bombs fell so close that the entire building shook. After the first one he continued talking, after the second he stopped and on the third he got up and said “maybe it would be better to go home.” When this happens a doctor is doing his job, he knows he has to stop, but his reaction is to continue. because he has a child in front of him that must be taken care of.
Your teams are offering mental health assistance, why is it a priority?
The mental health needs in Gaza now have nothing to do with what has been experienced in previous wars. When chatting with some young people, you first go through some initial banter and then enter a black labyrinth. They only talk about loss, about people close to them and their homes. Even if the war ends, they don’t know where they can go or with what money. Psychological assistance can be as important in saving a life as first aid that stabilizes the patient. We give them some guidelines to help them continue their daily lives, to sleep and calm down. It’s also about making them feel heard, showing affection.
Why are so many healthcare professionals dying in this conflict in comparison?
Among the displaced there are people from all professions, and therefore there are health workers who have paid the price of the indiscriminate bombings. But they are also inside the hospitals that have been the target of Israeli attacks, something that has almost been legitimized. But you have to understand that if you attack hospitals, you attack patients and you attack humanitarian personnel. You also cannot ask a hospital to evacuate because it is a deadly sentence for patients. It is absurd to ask hundreds of people in serious condition to escape by walking several kilometers. Evacuations do not make Gazans safe.
What types of injuries and illnesses are they encountering?
Serious burns, multiple fractures, people with chronic diseases who have interrupted their treatments because there are no medications, a high incidence of infectious diseases, respiratory infections, diarrhea, many skin infections… The fear we have is that if we continue with this population density with the few functional services, with monetary aid that is not enough, with hygiene deteriorating, the situation will get out of control, there will be outbreaks of hepatitis C, cholera… If there is not a ceasefire now, we will not be able to handle the consequences of all this
What motivates a foreign person to go to Gaza?
The motivation is that a show of solidarity is needed for the people of Gaza. Although the international community has been watching from the outside, we must show them that they are not alone. I believe that if the international community does not react to stop this, we will all carry a stigma as humanity forever, not just the two sides of the conflict.
