“I do not feel threatened on missions. The context of where we go is problematic, but we pay attention to security. We are not subject to any governments or funds as organizations, so our protection is that we are an independent organization. We can do what we want if we negotiate the conditions in the place where we want to help. If the local community respects us, it is far more shield than if we had bulletproof safety vests and armed guards, “says surgeon Tomas, host of Personalities Plus.
“We do not have one, we have a dozen MSFs with a logo, and that’s enough protection,” he adds and explains how the work of an international humanitarian organization, a longtime member, works.
“It is essential to negotiate the terms with all parties to the conflict. If we did not do that, we cannot work there. When there was a security risk at some point, we had to leave the mission, but it does not happen often. We work to ensure that people who respect us have free medical care, which is very well in the environment, and these people are very happy, “says the surgeon in safety clothing.
We cannot rely on family
“Sometimes we have a lot harder here, because we cannot rely on our family, friends and community. People, such as Afghanistan, carry this much more bravely. Perhaps more, North Africans are mostly in the line of battle, knowing that they will be going to school in the morning, and they may not count all of them in the evening.
There are people around who carried the weight with them. It is their native land, even though there are forty years of civil war there. They stay with warning vest because they have mutual support. We do not have it here. Oftentimes we forget about the family and the people around us and we have unnecessary burdens. At the same time, I think that the basis is the support, comments the physician working in the war zones of the different situation and the concept of the community.
I did not forget the dream
Tomas Sebeka started his work on missions at his 33 years of age. “I did not believe long after school, even after the attestations, and I did not think I could be of any benefit to the MSF organization. I needed to use my tongue, I did not think my surgical experience was enough to help local people help and pass on their knowledge. I have been working on it for a long time; I have been looking forward to it for a long time. Fortunately, I never forgot my dream when I finally left my first mission,” he remembers.