Your Gift is Helping Displaced Families Cope with Stressful Situations
In 2018, Bilal and his family were forced to flee their home, leaving behind their small village in the countryside of Idlib. By the time they arrived at the Dayr Hassan displacement camp, 6-year-old Bilal began acting out. He would get bored quickly and became aggressive, often hitting his siblings. This would cause stress for Bilal’s mother who was left to care for him alone while her husband was away at work, trying to provide for the family. Desperate for help, Bilal’s mother took her son to the Welcome Sesame center in Dayr Hassan so their home life would not spiral out of control.
During the course of six therapy sessions, Bial’s mother was given strategies for coping with stress as well as several techniques for handling Bilal’s outbursts. She was encouraged to focus more on his positive behavior rather than the negative.
In the first session, Bilal would constantly interrupt the facilitator because he did not like the activities. But through positive reinforcement and encouragement, Bilal began to follow instructions and successfully complete tasks during the sessions. Before, Bilal would complain that his friends did not like to play with him and called him a troublemaker. But after the sessions, his friends started to play with him. This made Bilal so happy!
Bilal’s mother also noticed major improvements as he became calmer and patient, no longer stressing her out.
For many displaced families, the uncertainty of their “new” situation can be incredibly stressful not only for the adults but also for the children. These sessions are helping families and their children.Through your generous contribution to support programs such as Welcome Sesame, you can help young children just like Bilal to cope and heal so that they can later thrive!
First Telemedicine Consultations Begin in Northwest Syria
On October 20th, the first pediatric telemedicine consultations began in the Al-Ekhaa Hospital in northwest Syria, in partnership with Syrian Expatriates Medical Association (SEMA). 19 doctors are expected to volunteer and use the HIRS Telemedicine Platform.
Supported by the Humanitarian Grand Challenges Organization, this initiative will reduce caseloads, and increase shared expertise among program users in an effort to help save lives.
This program will be implemented in three different types of medical centers in northwest Syria: mental health, pediatrics, and critical care.
To learn more about the telemedicine program please visit: https://www.hirs-tm.org/
VAC (Pragma VAC) Dressing Distributed in Northwest Syria
Pragma VAC wound dressing is a low cost, simple way to treat wounded patients who are unable to reach health services due to the humanitarian crisis.
Since 2011, this dressing has helped save many lives, allowing those who are injured to dress their own wounds, even in hard-to-reach areas. The standard of care for such cases is usually Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) but due to its high cost and limited access in poor and vulnerable areas, this manual NPWT device is a great low-cost alternative that helps those wounded treat their injuries in their home. However, this dressing is not intended for non-traumatic open wounds resulting from chronic diseases.
UOSSM Celebrates World Mental Health Day
On October 10th, the mental health support team in Bahoori Center, in collaboration with Shafaq Organization, celebrated World Mental Health Day by providing fun activities for children and adolescents. They also watched a play that explored COVID-19 and the psychological stress it is imposing on people.
UOSSM Participates in Health Information System Workshop
A workshop was offered on October 21-22 in partnership with HIS (Health Information System). Several nonprofit organizations operating in the health sector participated in the workshop including, the World Health Organization (WHO).
The workshop shared accomplishments by HIS in previous years establishing a unified electronic database to gather routine medical data including deaths and illnesses reported by medical facilities in northwest Syria.
The data was then analyzed to show healthcare gaps according to WHO standards. The workshop also focused on strengthening coordination efforts and exploring challenges and solutions for implementing this system as well as potential tools and research to help further develop and advance this project.
