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What does one donation to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) power? Here are some postcards of MSF staff and patients around the globe to share with you the lifesaving impact our generous donors have in their communities.
Meet Onnie, a therapy dog who works at MSF’s center in Mexico City providing therapeutic support to our patients who’ve experienced extreme violence and trauma. Onnie was trained as a puppy to become a therapy dog and help patients express their feelings, process trauma, and regulate their symptoms.
One patient Onnie works with was hospitalized several times after self-harming. During a recent episode, Onnie helped her regulate her body’s response by putting pressure on her lap with his paws and licking her to bring awareness to the present moment. The patient has improved and has gone three weeks without any mental health crises, according to Alicia de la Rosa, an MSF psychologist specializing in animal therapy.
"Seeing an improvement in the quality of life of people who have suffered so much and who arrive at the center so traumatized is something that gives us great satisfaction," says Alicia.
Nogood traveled a long way to give birth to baby Ahmed at the MSF-supported Al-Jamhouri hospital. Like many women in Yemen, she struggles to access quality health care.
"My financial situation is not that good, so I came to Al-Jamhouri hospital to have my C-section because it is free of charge," said Nogood. Between August 2021 and August 2022, MSF in Al-Jamhouri assisted in 6,739 deliveries, 1,193 of which were C-sections—an indication of the high number of complex pregnancies of the women who arrived at the hospital.
MSF is filling a critical gap in high-quality, free reproductive care. Since MSF started supporting the hospital, the neonatal mortality rate has plummeted from 23.6% to 9.9%.
Decrichelle is one of the many women rescued by Geo Barents, MSF’s rescue ship in the central Mediterranean, who has survived gender-based violence. She fled her forced marriage to an abusive man, taking her two children first to Nigeria, then through Niger to Algeria. On her way through the desert, her daughter fell ill, and without any medicine or access to care, she died.
"I want to be in a place where I can live like a normal person of my age. It is not the case, too much suffering, too much stress. I want to be able to sleep at night," says Decrichelle.
Safely on board the Geo Barents, Decrichelle and other patients receive care from MSF staff like Lucia, deputy project coordinator on the rescue vessel.
"I want to tell women: it is not your fault. You are exactly the same person as you were before. You are even stronger," says Lucia.
We are so grateful for people like you who extend a helping hand to our patients in their times of grave need. From the bottom of our hearts and from around the globe: thank you.
This email was sent from the U.S. section of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international independent medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural and man-made disasters, and exclusion from health care.
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