...but while we live our fortunate lives, we must make every attempt to be always conscious of their suffering. A quote from a personal experience my Dutch friend Yahya, a medical student helping refugees in Turkey, wrote just now on his Facebook. ----- By Yahya Hussin There are few things as heart-breaking as the look of despair, sadness, and hopelessness in the eyes of a person. We got the chance to visit Syrian patients being treated in the Gaziantep University hospital, and I had the privilege of talking to Ahmed, who was being treated for his cancer. Our conversation started off by him stating that he has cancer and he wished that God would protect me from this evil. That was the last I heard about the cancer from him. After that, all he could talk about was his concerns for others. He talked about how he is worried about his family because they are fully dependent on him, but he is unable to work now. He goes on to say that his brother has been in prison for 8 months for unknown reasons. He doesnt know how he’s doing and is worried about him and his eyes tear up. Many of his friends and family have been killed, including his best friend. He says he doesnt know if he will return back to Syria once he’s done with his therapy. Multiple times during the conversation I see the man on the brink of bursting into tears. His eyes become red and tear up, but he tries to hold it together. Like a great dam holding water behind its walls, this man does the same. I feel his pain and it is indescribable. He has lost so much: his family, his friends, his job and his livelihood. So much has changed in such a short period of time, God knows how he is able to hold it all together. He explains how the Syrian government has killed everyone and every group: civilians, women and children, minorities; no one is spared. There is no mercy. His own city Aleppo is destroyed. Lives have been ruined forever. I try to imagine myself in his position but it is impossible. I feel his pain and suffering, but I know it is just temporary for me because I will be leaving and continuing on with my life, while his pain may last forever. When I go home after this trip everything will be just as I left it. But that is not the case for him because even after three years of the war, the situation is only worsening for the Syrian people. How can I help him? How do I solve his problems? At the moment, I could not do anything for him except talk to him, and that was the harsh reality. I could not get his brother out of prison or bring his friends or family back to life. At the end of the conversation he smiled and wished us good luck on our trip. He was a very kind man. Even though the conversation was just a few minutes, I felt he appreciated that I was listening to him and that he wanted me to listen to him. He wanted attention and wanted someone to care. There are so many other patients in this hospital like him and so many others that can’t get to a hospital at all. He was in so much pain and even now while writing these words I can still feel it. It was time to go on to the next patient and after I left the room, I felt the weight of his words on my chest. My heart was filled with sadness and all I wanted to do was cry. I know I will never forget him. It is terrifying to think that there are millions like him, but while we live our fortunate lives, we must make every attempt to be always conscious of their suffering. Maybe when I go home after this trip, things will have changed. Although everything will be just as I left it, I will have changed.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 01:40:10 +0000
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