CADUS is working intensely to prepare the next missions in Iraq and Northern Syria. The Operation Managers in Berlin are recruiting teams and filing requests. CADUS regional manager Fee Baumann is taking care of everything else in Erbil.
The mobile hospital is our biggest project so far. Two and a half years have passed since the idea came into being. We built a mobile hospital based on 4-wheel-trucks in a diy way. For this, we got an incredibe amounnt of support from everywhere, but we also had to overcome many difficulties.
January 2018 we will finally reach our destination in Syria. Time to look back.
We continue our series and want to present you Kristy. Kristy is a paramedic and made the long way from Australia already the second time to support our crew in Iraq.
Our mission in Iraq continues and so the medical treatment of the war wounded does. But the latest events in the country bring big problems for us and other organisations for continuing our work. Moreover the development of the situation in the future is unpredictable.
Read our now blog post to know how ow we work under these conditions and how the mood is in the team on ground.
"[...], despite the many dead and the impression that my own work would be nothing but a drop in the ocean. Even though you can always discuss the political impact of humanitarian missions, their meaningfulness to me is justified and indisputable. It is a sign of solidarity, of not looking the other way. If you think a bit further, providing direct aid in a TSP is a sustainable work as well, as every saved live can help to rebuild and remake this country in the future and warn of another war. Inshallah."
Doctor Elisa writes about her impressions of her medical work in Mosul, the images that are always with her and her role as a female volunteer in a male-dominated environment.
"It was not some kind of natural disaster creating those injuries, but people committing these atrocities on other people. We were facing the massive machinery of war with our minimal equipment. Would I do it again? Despite much brooding, the answer is yes."
Paramedic Malte’s impressions from our TSP in Mossul
A four-year-old girl, Khadeja, is brought to our TSP at Mosul. Iraqi troops have pulled her from a foxhole in Mosul's old town. The child's mother and father are dead. Suddenly the Iraqi Intelligence Service intents to take over the girl for interrogation, against all international laws. Our team is not accepting the situation and threatens to leave.
Doctor Gerhard Trabert was part of the team and documented the situation via Facebook. Here you can read his combined texts as blog post.
"People are celebrating in order to forget and enjoying life because many know that these moments are fleeting. Perhaps they also try to push away the fact that, with all the security and quality of life there is now, Erbil would almost have suffered the same fate as Mosul in 2014."
Kris, Head of Mission in Erbil, is reporting about the heavy contrast between Erbil and Mosul.
As things progress in Mosul we’ve had to replace most of our team in the area. Our three new arrivals couldn't have a more challenging start. Shortly after their arrival the IS began attacking liberated parts of Mosul. Our team continued their work despite the barrage of recent destruction and bloodshed, earning our deep thanks and respect. Here the first report by Elisa and Stefan:
"The last days were incredibly exhausting for the whole team. The influx of patients continues unabated. I'm almost surprised about this, 'cause the number of patients is much higher than another TSP has told us in advance. Daily, far more than 30 seriously injured people, civilians and combatants arrive here. Often the awaited help is too late, they're practically dying while arriving." The situation in Mosul is still dramatic. Sebastian with an urgently report from our Trauma Stabilization Point in the contested city.
