German

An MSF team member examines a patient with multidrug-resistant TB in Minsk

TB in Belarus: "Discuss, argue and take patients seriously"

Overcoming tuberculosis (TB) requires a lengthy and careful treatment. However, in Belarus, many patients are also battling another issue: alcohol addiction. German psychotherapist Christian Falkenstein writes about putting patients at the centre of their own care…

16 May 2019 / 3 minute read

Christian Falkenstein

Mental health specialist

TB in Belarus: Saturdays at the tuberculosis clinic

In Belarus, patients fighting tuberculosis often face another battle: alcohol addiction. The combination can be devastating, as tuberculosis can be deadly without a difficult treatment made only tougher by this additional challenge. Christian, a psychotherapist, is working to help people break this dangerous cycle through new insight and new hope…

22 Apr 2019 / 4 minute read

Christian Falkenstein

Mental health specialist

TB in Belarus: The team and the challenge

"The first three months are the most exhausting", someone warned Christian - a German psychotherapist newly arrived in Minsk. How right they were.

08 Mar 2019 / 4 minute read

Jenny Dörnemann

Paediatrician

Putting the puzzle together in Sierra Leone

"Step by step... we are putting the parts together in such a way that in future, fewer children will die in Sierra Leone."

07 Mar 2019 / 5 minute read

Christian Falkenstein

Mental health specialist

TB in Belarus: “The blank spot on the map”

Knowing nothing about Belarus, German psychotherapist Christian arrives in Minsk for his first ever assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

28 Feb 2019 / 4 minute read

Refugee women in Ain Issa camp, Syria, September 2017

Vera Schmitz

Nurse

When people flee to seek refuge

As she returns to her own home after a posting in Iraq, Vera Schmitz, a Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) nurse reflects...

31 Jan 2019 / 5 minute read

Sylvia Schaber

Doctor

Slow and yet too fast

"After my six months here in the Central African Republic I can only say: It is an amazing experience! You learn so much. I am sure that an assignment with MSF will not allow anyone to return home unchanged."

26 Jan 2019 / 5 minute read

Sylvia Schaber

Doctor

The belief in natural healing powers

Traditional medicine plays an important role in the Central African Republic. I have more critical view of the issue, because unfortunately we encounter it in two specific situations in hospital: in emergency cases and at discharges against medical advice.

04 Dec 2018 / 2 minute read

Sylvia Schaber

Doctor

Difficult decisions, serious consequences

"From a western European perspective, this idea is difficult to understand. Here, however, traditions are deeply rooted in the local communities..."

03 Nov 2018 / 4 minute read

Vera Schmitz

Nurse

Iraq: Life after the war

A year after the end of the Iraq war, MSF is still providing desperately needed health care to people who were forced to flee the violence. Vera blogs...

26 Oct 2018 / 5 minute read

Sylvia Schaber

Doctor

Central African Republic: Deciding to stay

Her first assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) was meant to be three months long, but German doctor Sylvia Schaber decided to stay for six. In this blog, she writes about both the inspiration and the hard reality she has found in Bossangoa, Central African Republic.

07 Oct 2018 / 3 minute read

Sylvia Schaber

Doctor

Central African Republic: A question of perspective

Sylvia is a German doctor, currently working in the Central African Republic town of Bossangoa on her first assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF). In this blog, she writes about the importance of taking time out.

23 Sep 2018 / 4 minute read