Last month International Medical Corps recognized World Mental Health Day (WMHD) in our programs across the world, hosting community events aimed at educating, increasing awareness and debunking myths surrounding mental health. This year’s theme was “Young People and Mental Health in a Changing World,” in recognition of the ever-increasing number of young people exposed to …
On September 7, 2017, an 8.2-magnitude earthquake struck off of the southern coast of Mexico. It was the strongest earthquake recorded in the country in more than a century, with the vast majority of the damage and loss of life occurring in Oaxaca and Chiapas States—two of the poorest states in Mexico. Just 12 days …
In a world full of violent and sudden crises, quieter and more pervasive struggles can often be overlooked. Despite rarely attracting major headlines, mental illness accounts for 4 of the 10 leading causes of disability worldwide. This constitutes a silent emergency, the annual cost of which will rise to $6 trillion by 2030. Yet despite …
Layan and her family lived a good life in Syria before the war. Her father worked as a businessman in Kuwait and made a decent income. She was a child who knew no other life, so war, death and annihilation seemed very distant. No matter where you live, nothing but experience can prepare you for …
In 2013, conflict broke out in South Sudan. A hopeful country—one that won its independence just two years earlier, on July 9, 2011—found itself imploding. To date, the vicious and bloody civil war between government and opposition forces is believed to have claimed at least 50,000 lives, driven 2 million people out of the country …
For someone who works all around the world, Merve Kan thinks a lot about the word “home.” Born in Turkey, she started her humanitarian relief career five years ago, after writing her Master’s thesis on the resilience of migrants and their perception of home. This theme plays itself out in her work today as a …
As a storyteller, I am deeply fascinated with mental health and psychology. These fields traverse an interior landscape that is rich and complex, providing insight into the essence of what makes people who they are. I find this intrigue mirrored in Aurore Brossault, a Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Services (MHPSS) Coordinator for International Medical …
The journey Andrew Jones took to his current position—managing a successful emergency child protection and psychosocial support program in eastern Ukraine—had an unlikely start: a dance conservatory in New York. “I began as a dancer,” says Jones, laughing at the distance between his initial passion and his current challenge as head of an International Medical …
Many young people in Iraq have never known peace and security. The 2003 Iraq war was followed by years of sectarian violence that erupted in heavy fighting between the Iraqi military and the Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS) in late 2013. Today, roughly 3 million Iraqis remain internally displaced due to ongoing conflicts, with more …
