Stories From Patients & Staff

The lab team in Kenema
11 Sep 2024

Microbiologist Candice Lynch explains the importance of being flexible when working with Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the challenges she faced, and her advice for other medical scientists interested in working overseas. 

water distribution

Dr Tejshri Shah, General Director of MSF and a paediatrician specialising in infectious diseases, recently returned from North Kivu, an eastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the country at the epicenter of the current mpox epidemic in Africa. 

Midwife Donna Collins with the midwifery team in Lebanon. Copyright: Donna Collins / MSF
01 May 2024

Donna Collins is a nurse and midwife from Whangārei, New Zealand, who has a wealth of experience working in humanitarian projects. She worked in Lebanon as a midwife activity manager with MSF and has kindly spoken to us about her career as a humanitarian and what she enjoys most about working overseas. 

shanti-hegde-outside-jahun-general-hospital
28 Aug 2024

Obstetrician-Gynaecologist Shanti Hegde is currently in Blantyre, Malawi, on her 16th assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Malawi has the second highest cervical cancer rate in the world, with over 4,000 women falling sick with the disease every year. Shanti is working on MSF’s cervical cancer program to improve early prevention, diagnosis and treatment. She kindly spoke to us about her role in this project, and what keeps her coming back to MSF. 

Nyala Teaching Hospital
15 Aug 2024

When war reached Nyala in Sudan, the city's hospital was so badly damaged that it was left barely functional. But with medical needs rising, this crucial healthcare facility also provided a life-line. Dr Jennifer Hulse shares how the Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) team worked fast to bring back life-saving medical care to a community rocked by war.

water-pump-being-used-by-mother-and-children
31 Jul 2024

In Mogovolas district, in the northern region of Mozambique, the prevalence of Bilharzia is notably high. Bilharzia is a parasitic infection caused by tiny waterborne worms, and if left untreated can cause damage to the liver, kidneys and bladder. With no access to safe water sources, villagers in Mogovolas are forced resort to unsafe water sources to meet their basic needs, risking exposure to this debilitating disease and to other waterborne infections.

Malawi
23 Jul 2024

Gynaecologist Dr Ute Schilling has a specialisation in oncology. She recently went on assignment to the city of Blantyre in Malawi with MSF, and tells us about her work treating cervical cancer in this region.

Waiting
22 Jul 2024

The conflict in Sudan’s West Darfur state has led to more violence against Masalit communities in El Geneina, the capital city. Photographer Corentin Fohlen provides a glimpse into the lives of survivors and families who have fled to east Chad. 

Nigeria
16 Jul 2024

The numbers tell a heart-breaking story: nearly half of all deaths in children under five have an underlying link to malnutrition, and it prevents nearly every fourth child from growing and developing properly.

Nurses

Of the more than 69,000 Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff in 2023, many thousands are nurses. Here, four MSF nurses from northwest Syria share a bit about their experiences: what a good day looks like, stories from their work, and some of the challenges they have overcome.