“I’m okay…” says Joe Tate, his statement trailing off like a question. “Well, my body’s strong,” he clarifies. “But my head and my heart…” Those two things are more complicated. But they’re the things that hurt the most. We encounter Joe in McLeans Town, a small and tightly knit community that our International Medical Corps …
They climbed up trees and into attics. They stayed afloat in rising water for hours, even days, on end. They don’t remember it all—but what they do remember, they wish they could forget. These are the survivors of Hurricane Dorian, the worst storm to hit the Bahamas in recorded history. Most people got to higher …
“It was so beautiful here you couldn’t believe it,” says William. “We lived here and we couldn’t believe how beautiful it was.” He says this while standing in front of a boat submerged in what used to be his front yard. Over his head, the remains of his ravaged beachfront house droop against a stunning …
“In 100 years here in Puerto Rico, we have never seen a hurricane like Maria.” – Cesar, Puerto Rico On September 5, 2017, the first of two fierce storms blasted across the Atlantic basin. Hurricane Irma, the strongest storm on record in the Atlantic, maintained maximum intensity as a Category 5 hurricane for 37 hours—knocking …
“My life was dark. I spent most of the time in my room and wouldn’t let anyone in.” This is how Ali—a 21-year-old Syrian refugee living in Turkey—described his life just a few months ago. Given what Ali has been through, his outlook on life isn’t that surprising. Ali was forced from his home in …
The issues addressed urgently following these emergencies are often the most visible: lack of food and water, obvious hazardous conditions, and the immediate needs of survivors. However, a quieter and consequential issue that can be unintentionally overlooked is mental health.
My trip to Jordan with International Medical Corps gave me an opportunity to see a side of the Syrian refugee crisis that I did not expect: happiness. Whether it emanated from the faces of children at the Makani Centers in Amman or Irbid, or the new mom in Azraq camp who treasured feeling safe with …
After more than two years of occupation, and following a nine-month-long battle between the so-called Islamic State and Iraqi-led forces, the vibrant city of Mosul—Iraq’s second-largest city and capital of Nineveh Province—was liberated from the Islamic State in July 2017. Six months later, the Iraqi government declared victory over the terrorist organization, known worldwide for …
By official estimates, 1.4m people have poured into Jordan from Syria’s civil war alone. Disaster-relief groups like the International Medical Corps, which runs the Jabal Amman clinic, came to help.