(MENAFN- Jordan Times) AMMAN — A French paediatric surgeon and her accompanying nurse from the non-governmental organisation HumaniTerra have concluded a charity surgical campaign which helped to treat some 40 Syrian refugee and Jordanian children.
'Despite having participated in these missions for over 12 years in countries like Cambodia and Bangladesh, this Amman campaign was truly an incredible and very special experience,' said Dr Helene Le Hors, a paediatric surgeon operating in the south of France.
'This was the first time I ever went on a mission without a whole French team working with HumaniTerra. I performed for the very first time with a foreign anesthetist, which was incredibly new and challenging,' she told The Jordan Times, highlighting the importance of the relationship between a surgeon and an anaesthetis, especially in paediatric surgery.
'Despite my initial worries and the unusual task of operating only with Jordanian professionals, it was a tremendous success,' she recalled, noting that she was able to perform her surgeries in 'almost the exact same conditions as Europe'.
'There is a real learning process going on for both sides cooperating on those missions. Surgeons trained in France get to acquire technical skills specific to local issues, which they must appropriate to be operational,' said Le Hors, who is also president of the HumaniTerra organisation.
'When we go on such missions abroad, we have to deploy treasures of professional innovation to adapt to the local context,' she explained, noting that 'we have to think differently from how we do back home'.
She cited the need to 'know when to stop' in order to avoid potential deterioration of the child's state once the team is gone. 'Although it can be tough, we need to evaluate the risks in light of the benefits that we will bring to the child and his/her family,' she explained.
The surgeon and her nurse Houria Harouni conducted some 40 surgeries at both Al Bashir and Al Hanan hospitals, helping children from underprivileged Jordanian and Syrian communities, with the support of UNICEF.
'It was great to see the excellent level of cooperation with the professionals in the operating room and the families of children smiling again after the surgery,' said Florian Bertaud, HumaniTerra's head of mission in Jordan.
'This mission has truly helped me evolve, both professionally and personally. Surely, I learned a lot in collaborating with the local teams and in exchanging expertise and advice. But I mostly grew at the personal level, by communicating so intensely with the families of the children,' Le Hors noted, stressing how 'extraordinary it is that they give me their trust in caring for their child while we cannot even communicate verbally, but only through a look.'
Visiting the team on the last day of their mission at Al Bashir Hospital, French Ambassador to Jordan David Bertolotti said: 'Thanks to the action of HumaniTerra and the presence of French doctors alongside their Jordanian counterparts, several Jordanian and Syrian children have been able to benefit from care that will allow them to return to normal life'.
He voiced France's pride in supporting the NGO 'which is helping strengthen Franco-Jordanian cooperation in the health sector', adding 'while visiting Al Bashir hospital, I could see how much this cooperation was not only technical, but, above all, human'.
'For me, these missions are kind of the quintessence of the profession. Every time I take part in one, I get what I call 'a bowl of humanity' and I really think every single surgeon should be doing that. It is the best motivational boost any doctor can get,' Le Hors concluded.
Two more HumaniTerra missions are scheduled to take place in the next two months, including one which will see the participation of noted Dr Jacques Beres.
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