International Medical Corps was founded 40 years ago in Afghanistan by Dr. Robert Simon and other volunteer doctors and nurses who had one lifesaving mission in mind: deliver vital care, training and supplies to people who need it most, no matter where they are located or how challenging it may be to reach them. During …
Siblings Ali, Yousef, Nahla and Raef became orphans overnight when a missile hit their home in Gaza. They escaped, but with life-changing injuries: 10-year-old Ali’s hip and right thigh were wounded, 9-year-old Yousef lost a leg and had shells embedded in his chest, 4-year-old Nahla lost a toe and 3-year-old Raef’s left leg was broken. …
“My husband and children couldn’t sleep at night because of the bombings,” says Suaad. The 45-year-old Syrian woman deftly threads her sewing machine as she tells the story of how she became a refugee. Suaad and her family lived on the outskirts of Damascus when the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011. Their area …
The Central African Republic (CAR) mission’s gender-based violence (GBV) work has been life-changing for women—especially widows—in Bambari. “Thanks to our activities, I don’t go unnoticed in the streets of Bambari,” says Bedi Bienvenue, who has been GBV Technical Manager at our CAR mission since 2021. “Women, girls, authorities—they all show me their gratitude for International …
One of the hottest and most inhospitable countries on Earth, Mali is nearly two-thirds desert or semi-desert. Populated primarily by nomadic communities, the northern regions of the country lie deep within the Sahara Desert. In places like these, healthcare is hard to come by. But International Medical Corps is there, operating two mobile medical units …
In the early hours of September 11, 2023, Tayseer El-Haj and Dr. Rowayda Kalfah were working as emergency first responders, helping people affected by Storm Daniel, which had brought sudden heavy rainfall, flooding and devastation to northeastern Libya the day before. Tayseer was volunteering for the Libya Red Crescent at one location in the coastal …
When monsoon flooding hit Pakistan in 2022, infrastructure was severely damaged or destroyed, leaving villagers without sources of clean water or modern sanitation. Since then, our water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) team has worked tirelessly to repair and rebuild these systems in flood-affected areas, including the Shaheed Benazirabad district of Sindh province. “Over the past …
In 2024, nobody needs to die because of cholera. We have already eradicated it in many countries. After major outbreaks in the 19th century, Europe and North America have eliminated cholera by improving water and sanitation infrastructure. We can easily treat cholera. Drinking an oral rehydration solution (water with added sugar and salts) helps most …
Global humanitarian organization International Medical Corps has received hundreds of wounded and dead at its field hospital in Deir al Balah, in central Gaza. With other hospitals now inaccessible, non-functioning or stretched to the breaking point, International Medical Corps’ facility has been designated to receive all trauma cases from the central region. In the early …
Yvonne Groenhout reflects on her experiences in the US, Ukraine and Gaza, and shares why she is motivated to volunteer for International Medical Corps.