Cheerio sand12/27/2022 ![]() ![]() A tank, trundling along through a field of green, the yellow sun shining brightly in the clear blue sky. Tanks, love hearts, the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian flag. The children paint pictures of war and hope, their works of art coloring the otherwise stark walls. When will this end? The shock, the noise, the nightmares, the panic attacks, the fear, the despair. Except for the glaring orange numbers at the end of a platform, ticking away the seconds. The artificial lights blasting their obnoxious beams day and night. Hidden underground, below the surface, buried down here. The only way to support these people is to stay close to them. “What do you need most?” I ask one woman. The elderly, the vulnerable, the disabled. ![]() Bringing medications, support, a listening ear, clean water, a fresh mattress, condoms. Bodies and clothes have to stay filthy, nowhere to wash, nowhere to dry, nowhere to deal with the mess of periods, of used diapers, of urinary incontinence. One sink for hundreds of bodies, barely enough to wash hands and faces. The toilets cubicles are separated only by small partitions, the stench overwhelming. Next to them a man of indeterminate age, prematurely old, crouched, shoulders hunched, and sucked on a cheap cigarette.Įating, sleeping, reading, arguing, kissing, hugging, crying in front of hundreds of pairs of eyes. I saw a couple one morning, practicing martial arts, in a corridor lit by flickering fluorescent lights, twisting and turning, punching the air, feet scuffing on old tiles, rubbish piled in a corner, an old plastic bottle cut in half, spewing discarded cigarette butts onto the cracked, stained floor. Unnatural sweating, induced by anxiety and fear, not by the warmth of the sun or the pleasure of running on a beach, hair flying and sand under your feet. The air is thick, it sticks to your skin, building up layers of sticky Metro sweat. The smell of urine, cabbage, old food, stale cigarette smoke, every now and then a whiff of perfume, somebody’s attempt to feel normal, to have a moment of pleasure, to feel like themselves, to feel clean. Where The Sun Doesn’t Reach by Dr Lisa Searle We urge you to make a donation to support the invaluable work of Médecins Sans Frontières please click here. She had been watching the Ukraine invasion closely since the beginning, and when MSF asked Lisa to join them, in early March 2022, to go to Ukraine to work in one of the most conflict-affected parts of the country, she did not hesitate to say yes. Now having spent years of her life working just behind the frontlines, in often very complex and lengthy humanitarian crises bringing emergency medical aid to the people most in need. She developed an interest in humanitarian work and a passion for reducing injustice in the world from a very young age, and from the age of 15 Lisa decided to study medicine and to become a humanitarian doctor to help those living in disadvantaged and vulnerable communities in precarious situations. The future for these people remains uncertain.ĭr Lisa Searle has worked with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders MSF)since 2009 and has completed 9 assignments so far in Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia and Ukraine. However, many of these people lost their homes and family members, the situation continues to be unpredictable and unsafe in many areas in and around Kharkiv. At the time of writing, the metro had been re-started and most people had been able to leave the metro shelters. ![]() She works with Médecins Sans Frontières who ran mobile clinics in the 30 metro stations spread across the city over a 3-month period, providing medical and mental health consultations. It does not store any personal data.Dr Lisa Searle wrote ' Where The Sun Doesn't Reach' in spring 2022, in the city of Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. ![]()
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