Salut tout le monde! My name is Nayla Tohme and this summer I am interning for Gynecology Without Borders in Dunkirk, France. I am majoring in Psychology and double minoring in Art and Gender & Women’s Studies.
Contrary to popular belief, growing up in Lebanon was an absolute blessing. As my country lies in the crossroads of continents and cultures, I learned the importance of diversity and travel from a very young age. However, being Lebanese also means that for the past few years I have helplessly watched Syria’s descent into hell. This quickly developed an urge in me to help and contribute in every way that I could. I focused my studies on Cultural Psychology, consecrated my summers working in refugee camps in Lebanon (tackling illiteracy among children refugees and child marriage among teen aged refugees etc…) Most importantly, I used the crucial tools of sharing their culture, speaking their language and understanding their religion in order to help sensitively and appropriately.
For my CISLA internship, I decided to work in France, specifically in Dunkirk where a thousand refugees from Iraq, Ethiopia and Eritrea attempt to cross the border to England. As their camp completely burned down in April, they now live in the woods of Dunkirk and Calais which they refer to as “The Jungle”.
I arrived to a run-down building in the tiny town of Bourbourg right outside of Dunkirk on a Sunday afternoon. Inside that building was our two-floor office which also served as our housing. I quickly learned that this would be my reality for the summer. Gynecology Without Borders is a French NGO that was established in reaction to the refugee crisis in France. Its mission is to provide medical and psychological help to female refugees, while focusing on their gynecological needs and rights. We provide our services 24/7, therefore work starts very early, ends at around midnight (even on the weekends) and our phones must stay on at night in case of emergencies, which happen often.
Our team is composed of midwives that drive ambulances to “The Jungle” daily to conduct medical consultation for the female refugees in need. At the end of their shift, they drive back women in critical conditions to our emergency shelter which is across the street from our office. My job is to manage the emergency shelter. My responsibilities range from maintenance (buying groceries to fill the fridge, cleaning the shelter…) to creating a healthy psycho-social environment for them (french lessons, casual conversations, informative sessions on contraception and legal rights, care-taking of their babies while they nap…). I also attend meetings twice a week with other associations that work with refugees, in order to make sure our approach is holistic.
Although the work is rigorous and never-ending, my time with GWB is quite enjoyable. Working with an all woman team, de-stigmatizing women’s sexuality and promoting reproductive health is incredibly empowering. What I also appreciate about our work environment is the lack of hierarchy in the office. We are all expected to take initiative, regardless of our position, and work together towards solving the refugee crisis in France. Being given this amount of responsibility and trust is humbling and exciting.
As I speak both French and Arabic fluently, I am often asked to translate medical consultations. This is the difficult aspect of my job as it makes me the bearer of tragic news. However, this has taught me to discuss sensitive topics in an empathetic and culturally sensitive manner, a skill I find very important. Another difficult aspect of our job is the political climate of the area. 75% of voters in Dunkirk and Calais voted for Marine LePen- basically the female version of Donald Trump that based her entire political campaign on the concept of anti-immigration. Therefore, we often receive negative reactions from our neighbors when they spot our cars or vests with “Gynécologie Sans Frontières” written on them. This is a major inconvenience as it prevents me from being able to call for help if/when something goes wrong in the shelter (I am now a fully certified plumber, electrician, seamstress, cook etc…) and further forces us all to work under-cover.
This might sound dark and heavy and part of it truly is. However, as I am starting my third week here, I realize that undergoing those experiences and processes with these strong women has enabled a fragile part of myself to heal along with them.
