The Iraq war has displaced millions of Iraqis from their homes, and their stories have been largely neglected. The goal of this project was to better understand the plight of these refugees, their living conditions, their medical issues, their access to health care, and how the war has affected their lives, and document and share my findings using photography.
With the support and blessing of my medical school and the Areas of Concentration in Medical Humanities at UCSF, I spent the last three months of my fourth year of medical school in the Middle East, to study, learn, experience and photograph. I lived in Jaramana, a refugee camp a few kilometers outside Damascus, Syria, in a refugee health clinic established by the Assyrian General Conference. The clinic is a small two bedroom apartment that has been converted, the living room into a waiting room and one bedroom into a sparse examination room. I lived with Dr. Milad Youkhana in the second room and had the opportunity to see patients, integrate into the community, visit people’s homes, and hear their stories. I hope the documentary film and photos will raise awareness and inspire others to continue to work to help Iraqi refugees. - Anobel Odisho and Adam Teale