‘They just want to live normal lives’

ONE Irish women who is head of mission with MSF Holland in Iraq, a branch of Médecins Sans Frontières, is heading a rehabilitation programme to help victims of violence lead normal lives once again.

Helen O’Neill, a south Dublin-born nurse, oversees three teams in Iraq giving mental health care. She has been in Baghdad eight times in the last half-year and says much has changed since she was a nurse in Iraq in the 1980s.

“It [the return] was completely shocking. Though I had expected it to be heavy on security, it was heavier than I expected. Checkpoints everywhere. Destroyed buildings, and I didn’t recognise anything.

“Many people are afraid of Baghdad, it has become the big bogeyman.

“But now is a very crucial time in Iraq because of the Arab Spring and the US military withdrawal and how it will play out. Iraqi people will be the sufferers as usual.”

MSF mental health workers are not only counselling Iraqis suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder but caring for people contemplating suicide or with drug addiction. Self-immolation — setting oneself on fire — as well as women and men turning guns on themselves are some of the problems.

“Everybody usually has lost somebody or knows somebody who has lost somebody. Everybody has a story. Some of them have too many stories and can’t deal with it anymore and stop functioning. They can’t work, they can’t study.”

Having worked in other war zones, including in Afghanistan and the Congo, Ms O’Neill says Iraqis are a resilient people.

“They’ve a great sense of humour. I’ve worked in other parts of the Middle East and it’s not as evident there. Iraqis use black humour a lot to get them through the hard times.

“They want the same as in any other country. They want a job, enough income, to be able to send their kids to school, they want access to healthcare, they just want to live normal lives and they want some sort of say on the Arab Spring, on democracy and on who’s in charge.”

While there are security risks during visits to Iraq to oversee the care work, Ms O’Neill says that being Irish helps her job.

“I love what I do and I love the fact that we can somehow make a small difference in people’s lives.

“You’ve got a kid who won’t go to school, or is afraid, or is bed wetting, or you’ve got a woman whose husband is so used to violence on the streets that he uses domestic violence at home constantly.”

Picture: Iraqis walk at the scene in the north Baghdad neighbourhood of Kadhimiyah where twin car bombs exploded on January 5. Picture by Ali al-Saadi/AFP/Getty

* This series was carried out with the help of the Simon Cumbers Media Fund, supported by Irish Aid