Violence and instability are creating a refugee and migrant crisis that will have global impacts for decades to come.
View this email in your browser ([link removed])
[link removed]
** Dear Migrant Clinicians Network community,
------------------------------------------------------------
The unspeakable horrors we have been witnessing – acts of terror by Hamas in Israel and the overwhelming violence engulfing Gaza – are hard to bear. Violence and instability are creating a refugee and migrant crisis that will have global impacts for decades to come. Simultaneously, here in the United States, people no longer feel safe in their own communities, as hate-based, ethnic, and religious attacks breed fear. The growing impact of the conflict, the devastation, death, pain, grief, and trauma it is generating, the millions of lives upended – these crises remind us of the urgent need for compassion, understanding, and collective efforts to bring peace and safety for all.
In our mission to build practical solutions to the seemingly intractable issues in migrant health, Migrant Clinicians Network strives to make a real and lasting impact on the lives of migrants, immigrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and those who care for them. Our Witness to Witness program, headed up by Kaethe Weingarten, PhD, regularly reminds us that, while an individual act may be small, these acts are not trivial, and the ripple effects of small acts can be unknown at the time of action.
In this vein, we wish to acknowledge the overwhelming emotional response among our constituents to this unfolding tragedy. Dr. Weingarten and her team have developed numerous resources over the years to help manage these responses. Here is a small selection:
* Understanding the Different Types of Empathic Stress Disorders: English and Spanish ([link removed])
* Reasonable Hope for our Times: English ([link removed])
* How to Be Empathic Without Experiencing Personal Distress: English and Spanish ([link removed])
* What Matters Now? – Contemplating Death During a Global Catastrophe: English ([link removed])
* How to Help Yourself in This Time of Crisis Now: English ([link removed])
* Some Comforting Ideas: English ([link removed])
* Nine Practices to Cope with a Looming Catastrophe: English ([link removed])
There are many more. View all of Witness to Witness’s resources for managing stress on the Witness to Witness webpage ([link removed]) .
Sometimes, it takes effort and action to bring ourselves to become an empowered and aware witness, where we can feel competent and effective as we witness violence. In a recent note to her Witness to Witness followers, Dr. Weingarten said that at the heart of her witnessing model is the idea that “there is toxic witnessing but also the possibility of compassionate witnessing… People long to feel less helpless in relation to the oppressive conditions of their lives and the model suggests ways to feel more effective, especially because we distinguish between small and trivial acts.” We encourage you to read about the witnessing model in the Witness to Witness resource, “Common Shock: The Effects of Witnessing Violence and Violation ([link removed]) ” for a primer on this model, or the article, “Witnessing: How Clinicians Can Move From Traumatic Stress to Empowerment While Serving Their Immigrant Patients
([link removed]) ,” from MCN’s quarterly clinical journal, Streamline, for more background. You can also watch one of these archived webinars to better understand this model and how to apply it to our own witnessing of violence today.
* Strengthening Resilience: Activating Sources that Restore Balance from Stress in English ([link removed]) and Spanish ([link removed])
* Grief in Times of Crisis: Loss, Connection, and Hope in English ([link removed])
* Managing Stress and Reasonable Hope for Healthcare Workers in English ([link removed]) and Spanish ([link removed])
We also want to speak in no uncertain terms: all people everywhere need their basic human rights. All people deserve to live in safety, with access to the necessities of life including access to health care when needed. Displaced people and refugees retain these rights and yet are often unable to access even water and food. Clinicians ([link removed]) at sieged health care facilities, aid workers, and other helpers must be provided the resources to save lives. MCN calls upon all parties to the conflict to abide by the detailed and explicit laws on the conduct of war. We also implore all international actors who play a role in the mitigation of international conflicts to urge the warring parties to abide by these laws. Further, we believe that all parties to the current conflict must be held accountable for abuses of these laws. Human Rights Watch has provided a detailed Q&A on issues relating to
international humanitarian law during this war here ([link removed]) .
In peace, safety, and humanity,
** Kim M. Nolte, MPH, MCHES
------------------------------------------------------------
Chief Executive Officer, Migrant Clinicians Network
** Connect with MCN
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed] [link removed] [link removed] [link removed] [link removed] [link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
Copyright (C) 2023 Migrant Clinicians Network. All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you signed up for the MCN mailing list.
Our mailing address is:
Migrant Clinicians Network
P.O. Box 164285
Austin, TX 78716
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences ([link removed]) or unsubscribe ([link removed])
