February 2020. I had spent months gathering donations to purchase medical supplies (over the counter medications such as aspirin, Tylenol, Motrin, bandaids, splints, diabetic test strips, anti-fungal medications, etc.) as well as mobile phones, iPads, and hundreds of small stuffed animals to give the young children receiving medical care in the clinic. I flew with 4 extra large-sized luggage bags filled with as much as I could carry. Kitrinos Clinic is the only medical clinic inside the refugee camp, housing 13,000 refugees. Five doctors, several nurses and EMT’s and myself as the social worker. We worked six days per week, 8:30 am – 5 pm. It is hard to describe the medical and psycho-social issues we witnessed, in addition to the physical problems that were the result of stabbings and self-harming. No human living under these conditions should have to suffer with such limited medical resources…but we made do with what we could and those who we treated were extremely grateful.
