Support Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan

Jordan, a country with one of the highest number of refugees in the world relative to population, hosts two large Syrian refugee camps. Together, the camps shelter more than 100,000 refugees, while several hundred thousand more have settled in urban parts of the country.

As part of International Medical Corps’ response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis, I traveled to Jordan earlier this year to visit Azraq Refugee Camp, one of the largest Syrian refugee camps in the world. Amid disruption, I witnessed life continuing, albeit trembling.

To understand first-hand the situation that Syrian refugees find themselves in, I wanted to speak to as many of them as possible. I listened to their stories about life in Syria before the war, about having to leave their homeland to face an uncertain future, and about adapting to a new, often challenging, environment. The Syrian conflict has now entered its eighth year, and this uncertainty still lingers.

What I soon realized is that no matter the destination, the abruption is heartbreaking in and of itself. Left behind is not “just” one’s country and the place one calls home; families are many times separated, the journey to safety itself can be perilous and, once relative safety is reached, the pursuit for a “new normal” begins. One quest may have come to an end upon arrival, but another one has just begun.

I also spent time in conversation with my colleagues at the Azraq Hospital. Through the European Union, International Medical Corps runs the only fully equipped hospital inside the camp. The hospital has several departments: a pediatrics unit, a department for emergency care and a maternity ward with rooms for pre- and post-delivery care.

Fascinated by the concept of new beginnings and the uncertainties of bringing life into this world as a refugee, I met with mothers, grandmothers, doctors and midwives at the maternity ward to learn more about reproductive health at a Syrian refugee camp.

The maternity ward is predominately a happy place. Smiles and laughter echo from both patients and staff. It is a place where mothers-to-be can spend time together with their friends, sisters and relatives. It’s a place of anticipation and excitement, followed by joy and relief. When I asked the doctors and midwives why they work at the camp, often traveling several hours every day from their homes to the desert to reach it, the answer was instantaneous. They want to do what they can to help Syrian refugees.

It’s a special place, the maternity ward—a kind of parallel universe where Syrian mothers get to be just that: mothers. For a short period of time, perhaps, it feels like the outside world doesn’t exist. In 2017 alone, more than 1,500 babies were born at the hospital. Mother and babies receive the care and rest they need and, briefly, they get to experience the same happiness as women who safely deliver a son or a daughter into this world without seeking refuge.

I left Azraq Refugee Camp and Jordan with impressions of the endurance, optimism and resilience of the Syrian refugee community, and the skill and kindness of my colleagues who work in the camp, all of them committed to improving the lives of Syrian refugees at a time when they are their most vulnerable.

We thank you and the GlobalGiving community for your continued support of International Medical Corps as we provide health services in Azraq Refugee Camp.

Hadeel drives two hours each way to reach Azraq Refugee Camp from Amman. As a Mental Health Program Officer for International Medical Corps, she makes the journey to serve the refugees of Jordan’s second largest refugee camp—home to 36,000 men, women and children who have fled Syria’s seven-year-long civil war. Supporting the mental health needs of dozens of refugees who have experienced severe distress and loss, her work can be exhausting and deeply challenging, but for Hadeel it has become her passion and her life’s purpose.

“When you work with clients with mental illness, you deal with their souls: the most sensitive, delicate part of our bodies. You touch their pain closely, offering support and love. And you always remind them how brave they are for fighting to recover” Hadeel says.

Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Hadeel grew up in Jordan, where she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy. At Azraq Camp, Hadeel provides case management services to refugees at International Medical Corps’ static clinics and through home visits to help them cope with their psychological wounds. On some days she becomes physically and emotionally drained, but credits the steadfast support of her colleagues and family for helping her to maintain the drive to continue on.

With each patient, Hadeel conducts a comprehensive mental health assessment to understand her clients’ needs, connect them with the appropriate services and chart a course for recovery. Hadeel serves as an advocate for patients and monitors their progress throughout the entire cycle of care to ensure they receive the mental health and psychosocial support they need. With many refugees at Azraq Camp having been separated from their families, experienced violence or fled for their lives, Hadeel’s work is vital to ensuring that they can cope with the crisis in a positive way and envision a brighter future.

Hadeel and her colleagues have provided 1,519 case management sessions and 1,290 psychiatric consultations to refugees at Azraq Camp over the last six months. Due the complex and widespread mental health needs of refugees in Jordan, the need for mental health services at Azraq camp remains high. Our mental health team at Azraq Camp welcomed more than 600 new clients in the beginning of 2018, with over a quarter of them being children under the age of 18.

Because of the stigma surrounding mental illness in Jordan and among Syrian refugees, Hadeel is also combatting the stereotypes surrounding seeking care by raising awareness of the importance of mental health and the support services available at Azraq Camp. With girls in particular often forbidden from accessing mental health services by their families because of the belief that the association will affect their marriage prospects, Hadeel strives to dispel harmful misconceptions and stereotypes about mental illness to ensure that refugees at Azraq Camp, and especially girls, are able to access the mental health care services they need.

We thank the GlobalGiving community for their support of International Medical Corps and Syrian refugees as we provide needed mental health and other services to individuals and families at Azraq Camp.

For more information about our mental health and psychosocial support work worldwide, please see https://internationalmedicalcorps.org/program/mental-health-psychosocial-support/