How we can bring mental health support to refugees | Essam Daod

Translator: Noelia Bernárdez Reviewer: Serv. de Norm. Lingüística U. de Santiago de Compostela

For the last two and a half years,

Nestes últimos dous anos e medio,

I'm one of the few, if not the only, child psychiatrist

veño sendo un dos poucos psiquiatras infantís, se non o único,

operating in refugee camps, shorelines and rescue boats

que traballa nos campos de refuxiados, na costa e nos barcos de rescate

in Greece and the Mediterranean Sea.

en Grecia e no mar Mediterráneo.

And I can say, with great confidence,

Podo dicir, e con moita seguridade,

that we are witnessing a mental-health catastrophe

que estamos a presenciar unha catástrofe en termos de saúde mental

that will affect most of us, and it will change our world.

que nos afectará á maioría de nós e que cambiará o mundo como o coñecemos.

I live in Haifa, but nowadays, I spend most of my time abroad.

Eu vivo en Haifa. No entanto, hoxe en día paso case todo o tempo no estranxeiro.

During my time on the Greek island of Lesbos

No tempo que pasei na illa grega de Lesbos

and on the rescue boats in the Mediterranean,

e nos barcos de rescate no Mediterráneo,

thousands of refugee boats arrived to the shoreline,

chegaron á costa milleiros de lanchas ateigadas

crowded with more than 1.5 million refugees.

de máis dun millón e medio de refuxiados.

One-fourth of them are children,

Un cuarto deles son cativos

fleeing war and hardship.

que foxen da guerra e da miseria.

Each boat carries different sufferings and traumas

Cada lancha carga con diversos traumas e padecementos

from Syria, Iraq, Afganistan and different countries in Africa.

desde Siria, Iraq, Afganistán e diferentes países de África.

In the last three years alone,

Só nos últimos tres anos,

more than 12,000 refugees lost their lives.

máis de 12.000 refuxiados perderon a vida

And hundreds of thousands lost their souls and their mental health

e centos de miles deles perderon as súas almas e a súa saúde mental

due to this cruel and traumatic experience.

por mor desta experiencia tan traumática e cruel.

I want to tell you about Omar,

Quero falarvos de Omar,

a five-year-old Syrian refugee boy

un meniño sirio refuxiado de cinco anos

who arrived to the shore on Lesbos on a crowded rubber boat.

que chegou á costa de Lesbos nunha lancha de goma atestada.

Crying, frightened, unable to understand what's happening to him,

Choraba, estaba aterrado, non entendía o que lle estaba a pasar:

he was right on the verge of developing a new trauma.

estaba a piques de sufrir un novo trauma.

I knew right away that this was a golden hour,

Souben decontado que estabamos na hora de ouro,

a short period of time in which I could change his story,

un curto período de tempo no que eu podía cambiar a súa historia.

I could change the story

Podía cambiar a historia

that he would tell himself for the rest of his life.

que se ía contar a si mesmo o resto da súa vida.

I could reframe his memories.

Podía redefinir as súas lembranzas.

I quickly held out my hands and said to his shaking mother in Arabic,

Estendín as mans axiña cara a súa nai, que tremía, e díxenlle en árabe:

(Arabic) "Ateeni elwalad o khudi nafas."

(Árabe) "Ateeni elwalad o khudi nafas",

"Give me the boy, and take a breath."

"dame o rapaz e recupera os folgos".

His mother gave him to me.

A nai deumo.

Omar looked at me with scared, tearful eyes and said,

Omar mirou para min asustado, cos ollos chorosos, e dixo

(Arabic) "Ammo (uncle in Arabic), shu hada?"

(Árabe) "Ammo (tío en árabe), shu hada?",

"What is this?"

"que é iso?",

as he pointed out to the police helicopter hovering above us.

mentres sinalaba co dedo o helicóptero da policía enriba de nós.

"It's a helicopter!

"É un helicóptero!

It's here to photograph you with big cameras,

Está aquí para fotografarte cunhas cámaras grandes

because only the great and the powerful heroes,

porque só os heroes máis grandes e poderosos,

like you, Omar, can cross the sea."

coma ti, Omar, son quen de cruzar o mar".

Omar looked at me, stopped crying and asked me,

Omar fitoume, parou de chorar e preguntoume:

(Arabic) "Ana batal?"

(Árabe) "Ana batal?",

"I'm a hero?"

"son un heroe?"

I talked to Omar for 15 minutes.

Falei con Omar durante 15 minutos

And I gave his parents some guidance to follow.

e deilles aos seus pais uns consellos para seguiren.

This short psychological intervention

Esta breve intervención psicolóxica

decreases the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder

diminúe a incidencia do trastorno por estrés postraumático

and other mental health issues in the future,

e outros problemas de saúde mental no futuro

preparing Omar to get an education,

e prepara a Omar para estudar,

join the workforce, raise a family and beyond.

introducirse no mundo laboral, formar unha familia e moito máis.

How?

Como?

By stimulating the good memories that will be stored in the amygdala,

Estimulando os recordos bos que quedarán almacenados na amígdala,

o almacén das emocións do cerebro humano.

the emotional storage of the human brain.

These memories will fight the traumatic ones,

Estes recordos loitarán contra os traumáticos

if they are reactivated in the future.

de se reactivaren estes últimos no futuro.

To Omar, the smell of the sea will not just remind him

A Omar, o aroma a mar non só lle lembrará

of his traumatic journey from Syria.

a súa traumática travesía desde Siria,

Because to Omar, this story is now a story of bravery.

porque para Omar, esta historia tornouse nunha historia de valentía.

This is the power of the golden hour,

Ese é o poder da hora de ouro,

which can reframe the trauma and establish a new narrative.

que pode redefinir o trauma e implantar unha perspectiva nova.

But Omar is only one out of more than 350,000 children

Porén, Omar é apenas un dos máis de 350.000 nenos

without the proper mental health support in this crisis alone.

que carecen dun apoio psicolóxico axeitado só nesta crise.

Three hundred and fifty thousand children and me.

Trescentos cincuenta mil nenos e mais eu.

We need mental health professionals

Precisamos profesionais da saúde mental

to join rescue teams during times of active crisis.

que se unan aos equipos de rescate nestes tempos de crise.

This is why my wife and I and friends co-founded "Humanity Crew."

Por iso, a miña dona, eu e uns amigos fundamos Humanity Crew,

One of the few aid organizations in the world

unha das poucas organizacións mundiais

that specializes in providing psychosocial aid

especializada en fornecer apoio psicosocial

and first-response mental health interventions

e intervencións psicolóxicas de resposta rápida

to refugees and displaced populations.

a refuxiados e poboacións desprazadas.

To provide them with a suitable intervention,

Para proporcionármoslles unha intervención axeitada,

we create the four-step approach, a psychosocial work plan

creamos o enfoque das catro fases, un plan de traballo psicosocial

that follows the refugees on each step of their journey.

que segue os refuxiados en todos os pasos da súa viaxe,

Starting inside the sea, on the rescue boats,

empezando no mar, nos barcos de rescate,

as mental health lifeguards.

como socorristas da saúde mental;

Later in the camps, hospitals and through our online clinic

despois, nos campos e hospitais e a través da nosa clínica en liña,

that breaks down borders and overcomes languages.

que supera as fronteiras e as barreiras lingüísticas,

And ending in the asylum countries, helping them integrate.

e, para rematar, nos países de asilo, onde os axudamos a se integraren.

Since our first mission in 2015,

Desde a nosa primeira misión en 2015,

"Humanity Crew" had 194 delegations

Humanity Crew creou 194 delegacións

of qualified, trained volunteers and therapists.

de voluntarios e psicoterapeutas cualificados e formados.

We have provided 26,000 hours of mental health support

Proporcionámoslles 26.000 horas de apoio psicolóxico

to over 10,000 refugees.

a máis de 10.000 persoas refuxiadas.

We can all do something to prevent this mental health catastrophe.

Todos podemos facer algo para evitar esta catástrofe en termos de saúde mental.

We need to acknowledge that first aid is not just needed for the body,

Temos que aceptar que non só o corpo precisa de primeiros auxilios,

but it has also to include the mind, the soul.

senón tamén a mente, a alma.

The impact on the soul is hardly visible,

O impacto na alma é apenas visíbel,

but the damage can be there for life.

mais o dano pode durar para sempre.

Let's not forget that what distinguishes us humans from machines

Non esquezamos que o que nos distingue aos humanos das máquinas

is the beautiful and the delicate soul within us.

é esa alma, fermosa e delicada, que mora dentro de nós.

Let's try harder to save more Omars.

Traballemos arreo para salvarmos a máis meniños como Omar.

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)

(Cheers)

(Ovación)

(Applause)

(Aplausos)