HilfsBUS goes Humanitarian Transport

After we started the project HilfsBUS in March, shortly after the Russian invasion, the goal was to facilitate the way from Ukraine to Europe for as many people as possible. After the first successful journeys, however, the need became apparent elsewhere. People with special protection needs, BiPOC, Sinti and Roma and others have to struggle with a difficult border crossing. Likewise, many relief goods have to be transported to Ukraine. At this point we decided to start the cooperation project “Humanitarian Transport”, in which we are now evacuating people who need help crossing the border into the EU as well as transporting relief goods to Ukraine.

You can read more about the project here: https://medical-volunteers.org/humanitarian-transport/.

If you have any questions just send a mail to: HumanitarianTransport@medical-volunteers.org

 

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Reflections and thoughts of our team working on the ground in Ukraine.

Unfortunately, violence against people living in Ukraine continues to increase and our team remains dedicated to providing medical care to anyone in need.

These are reflections and thoughts of our team working on the ground in Ukraine.

INTRO: ‘’While the clouds of war are roaring across the meadows of Eastern Ukraine, an endless caravan of buses is lingering towards the promises of the setting sun.’’ (Words by Jaka, Medical Student)

MORNING: ‘’ We were just starting our shift and were called straight to a car. There we found a woman who appeared very unwell, she was sweating, had blue lips and was complaining of chest pain. At first she did not want to be treated. The team was very concerned about her wellbeing and we explained this to her, after which she agreed to an assessment. After a short medical review and an ECG we diagnosed her with a suspected myocardial infarcation  and she was urgently transported to the nearest hospital by our ambulance, accompanied by one of our medics ’’. (Words by Mirjam, MVI Nurse)

SOCIAL: ‘’ For me, the social aspect of these kinds of projects is the most important. Working directly at the border crossing you do not only see people leaving, you witness families and couples being separated. While women and children can leave the country for safety, men between the ages of 18-60 have to stay behind. On most days you will see a lot of people approaching you with anxiety and stress symptoms. Many of these patients have said that seeing so many international volunteers who care about them and their situation has a big impact on the way they are feeling. Sometimes giving them a smile or a big hug is the best medicine. Even though you’re not always seeing so many patients, talking to people or playing football with kids while they wait for many hours to to leave the country is really meaningful ’’. (Words by Merle, MVI Volunteer, Paramedic and Medical Student)

CONTRAPUNCT: ‘’ We felt so loved and cared for on Ukranian Easter Holiday. Even at the darkest and most distressing time for their country, the Ukrainan people still showed such love and generosity by bringing us food and sitting and spending precious time with us on a holiday which is all about family ‘’. (Alice, MVI Doctor)

Quote: “War does not determine who is right-only who is left and willing/ready to help ”. (Words by Jaka, MVI Volunteer and Medical Student)

With the increase in the atrocities of this war, thousands of people continue to seek asylum in other European countries and the presence of humanitarian organizations on the ground is very necessary to provide food, accommodation, transport, legal assistance, medical care, among other demands and needs for social assistance.

Your support is very important and does make a difference. Please consider supporting our mission.

Link: https://medical-volunteers.org/donate-now/

Demographics in Bosnia, February 2022

Demographics in Bosnia, February 2022

The one doctor, one nurse team in Bosnia saw 241 patients in February. During the cold weather, there are fewer people on the “game”, the term used amongst those on the move for the act of crossing the border. There were more people staying in camps throughout Bosnia but particularly in Sarajevo. With the warmer weather coming in March/ April, we expect to see numbers rising but not to the extent of previous years due to routes that the people on the move (POMs) take changing toward Serbia and Romania. However, there are still people in need in Velika Kladusa, Bosnia with living conditions in squats contributing to health conditions and injuries from pushback and endless cycles of going on the “game”. The team has been working hard to ensure that people receive the healthcare they desperately need.

Check the full report by Kathy, Medical Coordinator in the Balkans.

Bosnia Report February 2022

We are part of the project “HilfsBUS”

Update: The project “hilfsbus” was successfully terminated. Our follow-up project “Humanitarian Transport” will, however, work to ensure that people in need of special protection or assistance can leave Ukraine.
For more informations about the new project click here: https://medical-volunteers.org/humanitarian-transport/
MVI is part of a project called “Relief BUS” with the aim to evacuate as many people as possible from Ukraine to a safe place.
Our goal is to organize and operate a shuttle bus that will operate in the cities of Western Ukraine and the Ukrainian – European border.
You can find more information on the project page at:
If you have any questions, you can contact Sarah from MVI at: sarah@hilfsbus.de

Demographics in Bosnia, January 2022

The team in Bosnia has been reduced in size in the recent months to become a one doctor, one nurse team. This is not only due to the routes that people on the move (POMS) are taking changing but also due to the reduced number of people going on the game (slang for the attempt to cross the border) during the winter month.

Check the full report by Kathy, Medical Coordinator in the Balkans.

Demographics in Bosnia January 2022

A heartwarming story from Thessaloniki.

In challenging times like these, it is good to hear stories that tell of humanity and mutual support.

Thanks to our tireless Medical Volunteers in Thessaloniki, we can tell such a story: a young man from Pakistan had to ask our team for medical help in July due to an almost completely shattered shoulder.

After three months and the unbeatable commitment of our team, he can move his shoulder more and more again. And that is almost a miracle. A car accident caused this incredibly painful and slowly healing injury to the refugee.

In mid-July the young man came to our clinic in Thessaloniki. The x-rays made it clear that the shoulder was severely injured and that there was only one possible way of treatment: an operation. However, that was anything but easy to implement. But our volunteers did not give up this time either.

mvi team Thanks to the motivation and passionate commitment of the team, the complicated operation on his shoulder was successfully carried out. It was like the task of a puzzle, the pieces of which had to be put together step by step. Day after day, the young man’s wound from Pakistan was treated by our team. The shoulder had to be immobilized for 45 days in order not to endanger the healing process.

One can only guess how difficult it must be to get through it all without the support and care of family members. The team was also in constant contact with the doctor who performed the surgery.

With increasing improvement in his physical condition, the patient was also able to gain more courage to face life.

His children and wife were so touched by this commitment and help that they thanked our team personally with voice messages.

With the help of physiotherapeutic treatment, we are now helping to mobilize his shoulder as fully as possible.

The wonderful care of our team has significantly influenced the life of this patient and gave a positive turn to the situation that seemed hopeless for him – we are deeply impressed and thank all supporters for this commitment to bring more humanity into this world!

Update from Lesvos

Medical Volunteers are getting back to regular medical work on Lesbos again starting from November. After the fire during the night of September 9th, the island was in chaos. First, the refugees had to stay on the streets for ten days in the sun and the hot temperatures, without having enough water to drink and without basic hygienic supplies. Afterwards, most of the former residents of Camp Moria were housed in the new camp “Kara Tepe 2”, and some of the refugees were transported to the mainland.

The Greek government had received support from the World Health Organization for medical care in the camp – a short-term emergency aid. A team of doctors from Norway provided medical care for refugees in the new camp until the end of October. Our volunteers also partially supported this.

In the medium to long term, medical assistance is to be ensured again by the non-governmental organizations that were already active before the fire. Medical Volunteers have offered to continue to treat the people in the new camp. Long and strong discussions preceded this decision. And it is a decision which has also been controversially discussed amongst our volunteers. In the end, we came to the conclusion: we help where our help is needed. With our help in the new camp, we can ensure medical care for the refugees and a dignified treatment of patients and translators from the refugee community. And thus we will try to make sure – within our competence in medical care – that refugees are well cared for.

Our political demand remains: EUROPE MUST ACT! Refugees must be given future prospects. Every country within the European Union should receive and welcome refugees and show solidarity with those countries located at Europe´s external borders, such as Greece.

#europemustact | #leavenoonebehind

Please raise your voice with us: https://de.europemustact.org/new-pact-social-media-pack

Physio-Center on Lesbos complements MVI’s offer

No one has continuously provided physiotherapy for refugees, so we are now the first one to offer this specific kind of support. Most of our patients suffer from chronic back, neck and shoulder pain. Most of this pain is due to injuries caused by the living conditions at Moria Camp, lack of physical activity, bad quality mattresses or lack of mattresses, and much more. In our Physio-Center we can help these people in a focused and purposeful way.

Until now, Lesbos lacked a place for physiotherapy as an important component of their treatment approach. In the first week of April, after months of work and with enormous help of your donations, we finally opened our physiotherapy centre. It’s the first one on Lesbos that was created to treat fugitives.

Since its opening, we have offered physiotherapy, Feldenkrais movement therapy and massage courses. We want to offer some refugees internships nand practical training so they can perform their own treatment. The centre is open to everyone and we have already achieved great results with many of our patients.

Of course there are also some problems that we will have to solve in the next few weeks. One of them is that we only have one female physiotherapist, which means that women have to wait longer to get appointments.

Over the next few weeks we have organized a separate weekly course for men and women in which our therapists will teach and work together with a yoga trauma therapist. This is a two-hour lesson dedicated to back pain in order to teach the refugees exercises and stretching movements which they can then carry out independently. Our overall goal is to equip the refugees with their own skills and abilities so that they can help themselves and others in the future.

An increasing challenge is also that many of the refugees do not appear at their follow-up appointments. The main reason for this is that the Arabic and Farsi calendars differ from the Gregorian ones. This requires a high degree of communication and creative solutions. This area will be also closely worked on in the near future.

The new Physio-Center proves to be an excellent addition to the care of the refugees in every case. We will try, hopefully with your help, to maintain and expand this offer.

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„Every Day is a challenge“- Interview with Kai Wittstock

MVI provides humanitarian aid. The NGO works at three locations in Greece with volunteers, doctors, nurses and translators to provide medical care for refugees. In particular, refugees who are staying there illegally and therefore have no access to health care are being supported by MVI. But how does the work actually unfold? What are the difficulties the volunteers face? And where exactly does the medical treatment take place? Kai Wittstock, team coordinator and founding member of “Medical Volunteers International” (MVI) has responded to these questions.:

Kai Wittstock (Founder and Volunteer Coordinator of Medical Volunteers

What help does MVI offer?

We provide medical care to refugees in Greece who have no access to the health system there. We are currently working in three exact locations: In Athens, Thessaloniki and Lesbos.

 

What exactly does “Medical Volunteers International” do at the different locations?

In Thessaloniki we have a so-called Car Park Clinic, where we drive with our ambulance and treat about 100-200 people a day. These are people who do not want to register in Greece. That means they are not able to go and visit a Greek doctor.

So a lot of people are there illegally?

Yes, and yet they still need medical attention. We simply provide humanitarian aid. But we also look after the Diavata Camp with the approval of the Greek Ministry of Health. It is a camp with about 2000 people. There we offer our medical treatment together with a Greek doctor in a container.

Recently we also opened our own clinic with two treatment rooms. An NGO from Switzerland provides the food. That’s how the cooperation works and our volunteers are excited about the process.

So what are these rooms you can use and who do you get them from?

In Athens, for example, we currently have 12 “clinics”, in squatted houses and squatted schools. We also provide doctors and nursing staff for other NGOs that have their own treatment facilities. Furthermore, we drive 2 times a week in camps in the surrounding area. For example, there is a camp in which about 2000 people have to live at the moment, mainly women and children. There we treat the refugees in a community center of an American lady, because we do not have direct access to the camp there. In addition, we drive to the south of Athens, which has 3 camps where there is no medical care from the Greek side.

 

Treatment rooms in occupied, empty houses?

Anyone who’s been to Greece knows that every tenth building is empty. Many people come via the Greek islands and also via Turkey, who then live in the city parks. And then activists take care of them and give them shelter in empty schools or in these empty buildings.

Often this happens with the tolerance of the Greek landlord or the Greek authorities. They know there’s no alternative! The problems of the Greeks should not be underestimated. An example: There is an occupied school in Athens that is inhabited by 200 people – and has been for two years.

It is hard to imagine that treatment can be carried out in apartments that have been “diverted from their intended purpose”?

We have cases where people have to have their toes removed because of frostbite. Of course, this is done in the hospital – however, there is no longer any follow-up treatment. This is where we come and take care of that. We also get apartments: Because if someone has just had hip surgery, he can’t climb to the 3rd floor in a squatted house.

These are all individual fates in which we have to decide on the spot, because of course it all costs money. It also happens that schooling is provided for refugee children, but only under the condition that all children are checked and given a health certificate after the examination. In this case, MVI took over, examined 200 children, carried out vaccinations and issued the vaccination passes.

That’s what distinguishes us: We are very flexible and extremely well connected in Greece. When help is needed, we’re there!Und das kann wahrscheinlich jeden Tag etwas anderes sein.

Sometimes trains arrive in Thessaloniki at three o’clock in the morning, in which 200 people are arriving via Turkey. They don’t have anything! Nothing. So our task is to go there and hand out clothes and food with partner organisations and supply the people with medication.

So the conditions in Greece do not allow any state supply?

Let me give you an example: In Athens itself, we stay in the centre of the city in a small house where we look after Greek homeless people. They have access to the health system, but have to pay for associations etc. themselves – and they simply cannot effort it.

Through donations, however, MVI is able to offer medicines and bandages. This applies to all our locations. To put it briefly: even with access to the healthcare system, many sick people cannot afford afford to go to the doctor!

The languages of the refugees are certainly a problem as well when it comes to medical care. Greek or English will be the least spoken languages I assume…

…sure. That’s why we have to work with translators. We currently have an Arabic, a Kurdish and a Farsi translator, because otherwise our doctors are unable to understand anything. In order to pay at least a pocket money for their work, we urgently require donations.

Why can’t the issue of illegal residence be resolved?

On the one hand, many do not want to register, as registration under the Dublin II Regulation would mean that they would no longer be able to “get ahead”. And the only hope for many of them is to get to Northern Europe.

On the other hand, there are many Afghanis, Pakistanis or North Africans who cannot be recognized by the government…

…this affects especially many fugitives in Lesbos at “Moria-Camp”…

…who have no status at all. This is indeed a particular matter on Lesbos which has to be resolved. The Greeks don’t know how to deal with it. They do not want to bring people to the mainland and expect to get solutions from the EU. There are really catastrophic conditions, as you can now also see in the German press.

What’s MVI doing there?

We provide humanitarian aid! We help those who have no access to medical support, who basically have nothing at all. No food and no clothes.

There we have 2 treatment rooms. The overload at Moria Camp is extreme! So medical helpers have about 2-3 minutes for a patient consultation or treatment. More complicated cases come to us and on those we work together with a Swiss NGO.

 

What’s the most important thing? Money donations, equipment or medication?

There are 800 patients a week, which means about 3000-3500 patients a month, so predominantly medication is very important. Moreover, we are the only ones who take care of chronical cases such as epilepsy – and that’s expensive.

We also need to keep the team on the move: We got an ambulance in Thessaloniki and a rental car on Lesbos. In Athens, we need cars to get to the camps. That means money for insurance, gas, reparation, etc. And as I mentioned before, we are also in great need for donation money in order to be able to provide the translators who accompany us several days a week.

And it would be fantastic if we could compensate our permanent coordinators on site and in Hamburg for their time-consuming work in the mid-term. Some of them work full time for the project and at the moment they have to collect money privately in order to be able to survive.

The main part of the work is done by the many volunteers. Can you briefly describe the work they do?

It’s an incredibly flexible way to work and the main concept of it is teamwork. It is not always easy, as you can imagine. But the volunteers also tell me again and again, that this experience proves to be important and enriching. Regarding the medical care and support, for many students, especially who study medicine, working alongside with doctors is an incredibly important aspect of their practical education.

 

We are completely international: A team usually consists of 8 people who come from different countries, so you also learn different treatment methods.

Perhaps the best description would be what an English doctor told me once when I asked her about her experiences: “Every day is a new challenge”.

That’s what it is.

The interview was conducted by Patrick Thielen on 20.03.2019