5 minute read
Staff profile | September 2023
MALAIKA EL AMRANI
Nursing Activity Manager
Home: Hawkes Bay, NZ
MSF experience:
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea 2022
Raqqa and Hassakeh, Syria 2021
Kabul, Afghanistan 2020
Ebonyi, Nigeria 2019-20
How did you become interested in infectious diseases?
I worked in the infectious disease ward in Auckland Hospital and later went on to study a tropical nursing postgraduate course at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine [UK]. It has always been a goal of mine to work in low-resource countries where there is a bigger need than the existing healthcare system can handle. MSF gave me the opportunity to go and focus on areas that are in real need of resources and expertise. My first project was assisting with the Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria in 2019.
I have just finished the first year of my Masters in Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine [UK] and my MSF experience is invaluable to what I am studying. I have every intention of going back on assignment.
During COVID-19 you were based in northeast Syria. What was that experience like?
My experience in Syria was my hardest, but most profound assignment. I was there during two COVID-19 waves in 2021, establishing a COVID-19 ward with very limited medical resources in a country that has been devastated by war. Syria has always been a hub of medical learning, but this has been obliterated because of the war.
The hospital in Raqqa is ruined and yet still people make do with what they have. The resilience, kindness and sense of camaraderie means that nobody is left behind. Many of my colleagues and patients had horrible stories to tell but their capacity for dignity and compassion was phenomenal and I felt a sense of urgency to be really involved with whatever was going on.
Be prepared for highs and lows that will stretch your capacity but will also make you incredibly strong.
What were the challenging aspects of that project?
It took a while to get used to the fact that people were dying, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I’m a nurse and I’m used to fixing things—but in this case, the situation was unfixable. Some days we were just battling to keep patients oxygenated. In Raqqa we didn’t have very much electricity and ran a generator to provide energy to the hospital. There was so much need out there and sometimes you had to say to yourself, ‘this is all we can do, let’s just focus on this’. It was a very tough assignment emotionally.
MSF does an amazing job of bringing resources into areas where they are most needed. In Papua New Guinea we provided GeneXpert machines for tuberculosis—it is a diagnostic tool that is life-changing for both the doctors and patients. MSF doesn’t waste money. We think very carefully about what is appropriate, what is plausible and what is needed. We don’t put lots of money into things that can’t be sustained when we leave.
It is an incredible privilege to work somewhere for a short time to train local staff and see the impact on their loved ones, their neighbours and their community. It is a very humbling experience.
What is your advice for anyone thinking about working for MSF?
Be prepared for highs and lows that will stretch your capacity but will also make you incredibly strong. Working in some of the lowest-resourced countries gives you a completely different set of cultural and personal values—you return home a different person. I found it hard when I came back from Syria because I’d seen so many things and heard so many horrific stories. I’m not afraid to say that I needed some help to process it all and nothing can prepare you for what you might witness. So, know yourself and know your limitations. Be humble and enjoy the process and journey.
Nursing activity managers define, coordinate and monitor all care and nursing related activities in our projects. Their work includes daily management of human resources – according to MSF nursing protocols – to achieve efficiency, quality and continuity of prescribed care.
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