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American Nurse Returns from Gaza · Obnoxiously Pleasant

0:00
SPEAKER_00: I'm Hannah.
0:00
SPEAKER_00: I'm Lena.
0:02
SPEAKER_00: Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of Obnoxiously Pleasant.
0:04
SPEAKER_00: Today this episode is focused on an American nurse returning from Gaza.
0:10
SPEAKER_00: Welcome.
0:11
SPEAKER_00: This is Lana.
0:12
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the podcast, Lana.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: Lana is an American OR nurse, a mom, and she just got back from a two-week-long trip with Medaglobal to Gaza.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: And the focus of her trip was to help the thousands of injured Palestinians.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the podcast, Lana.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: It's such a pleasure to have you here.
0:35
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
0:35
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
0:36
SPEAKER_02: Likewise.
0:36
SPEAKER_02: Thanks.
0:39
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
0:39
SPEAKER_00: I just want to begin by asking you, what motivated you or what pushed you to make this kind of trip?
0:47
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you your life is pretty set up right here, right?
0:50
SPEAKER_00: Like you're doing well for yourself.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: Like what pushed you to do this?
0:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
0:54
SPEAKER_02: So initially it was when it all started happening in October.
1:01
SPEAKER_02: I was seeing the videos online that you guys were all seeing on social media.
1:05
SPEAKER_02: And I remember seeing them performing CPR incorrectly.
1:10
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, my goodness, like they're not pushing fast enough or hard enough.
1:15
SPEAKER_02: Or I mean, they're not putting their hands in the right spot.
1:18
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, my goodness, like I just want to go there and teach them how to properly perform CPR.
1:23
SPEAKER_02: Like it initially started off like that.
1:26
SPEAKER_02: But what actually got me there was I'm part of a group, um, Doctors Against Genocide, and one of the founders had posted a link for Med Global and was like, hey, um they are looking for OR nurses, anesthesiologists, and surgeons.
1:42
SPEAKER_02: If anyone's interested in going, um, you know, sign up.
1:47
SPEAKER_02: So I was like, you know what?
1:48
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna sign up.
1:50
SPEAKER_02: And I'll admit I selfishly signed up um to go in March, which which was with like group three, um, because the weather was going to be better.
2:00
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, oh, I don't want to go in the cold.
2:02
SPEAKER_02: But then um with somebody with my skill set, because I have a lot of like trauma nursing, trauma OR nursing, and ER background, they they contacted me and they were like, hey, um, like two days after I applied, they contacted me and they were like, Oh, we need somebody with your skill set to go with group one.
2:19
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Okay, when is that?
2:21
SPEAKER_02: And they were like, like in two and a half weeks.
2:23
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Okay, like ready or not, here I come.
2:28
SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
2:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I just I I I wanted to ask you once once you arrived there, what were the scenes like?
2:36
SPEAKER_01: You know, what what are the some of the things that you were expecting to see and some of the things that you were totally unexpected, unexpecting to see?
2:44
SPEAKER_02: So immediately right when we got through um from the Egyptian side, um, the like five minutes into it when we were getting our luggage, um, the power went out completely.
2:56
SPEAKER_02: It was like it was nighttime.
2:58
SPEAKER_02: So it was pitch black, and all you hear is like it sounds like gunshots in the background.
3:04
SPEAKER_02: And it's pitch dark, you know, the power went out, and um, somebody said, Welcome to Gaza.
3:10
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Oh my goodness, like this is for real.
3:13
SPEAKER_02: Like it was terrifying.
3:14
SPEAKER_02: Like, I was like, Oh my god, like this is no joke.
3:16
SPEAKER_02: It was just insane how just a border, like literally, just like a matter of steps in between, and it was a big difference.
3:26
SPEAKER_02: It was like, wow, I just went into the twilight zone.
3:28
SPEAKER_02: Like, that's what it felt like.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: Can you explain to me a little bit?
3:32
SPEAKER_00: I'm interesting to know because you said when you crossed the border, can you explain to me a little bit about like, or not just to me, but to me and you know, all the folks that are gonna be watching or listening?
3:41
SPEAKER_00: What does that what is that trip like?
3:43
SPEAKER_00: Like you left from here because you're local to the DC metro area, like Lena and I.
3:47
SPEAKER_00: Like, what did that trip look like for you?
3:49
SPEAKER_00: How did you get to the border even?
3:50
SPEAKER_00: And then in crossing the border, did you face any difficulties?
3:53
SPEAKER_00: Was there any hardships?
3:54
SPEAKER_00: You know, what were you allowed to take with you?
3:56
SPEAKER_00: What were you allowed to take with you?
3:58
SPEAKER_00: Because there's so many questions floating around about, you know, how people get across the border.
4:02
SPEAKER_00: I'm just interested to hear your experience.
4:05
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so um we actually flew into Egypt um and we stayed in Cairo for um, well, it was supposed to be one night, but unfortunately we got stuck there for um three nights because um the co-founder, um, I mean, the co-founders and the director um and another surgeon, they were in Nasser Hospital, um, part of our organization.
4:32
SPEAKER_02: They were in Nassad hospital, and that's when it was um besieged.
4:35
SPEAKER_02: So they had to evacuate and come back.
4:38
SPEAKER_02: So we got um put on standby for a couple of days so we could, you know, come up with a new plan as to where to go because we were supposed to go to Nasser hospital.
4:48
SPEAKER_02: Um so we went into Egypt and then from Egypt we drove to Rafa in Egypt, um, which uh there are I think eight checkpoints to the Palestinian side.
5:02
SPEAKER_02: Um, and we got through the majority of the checkpoints without getting stopped.
5:08
SPEAKER_02: Um we only got stopped at I think like three of them for maybe 45 minutes to an hour um at each one of those three that stopped us.
5:18
SPEAKER_02: And uh that was it.
5:19
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it was uh honestly it was pretty smooth sailing, but we were also with a UN convoy, so that also made it easy and it was super organized.
5:28
SPEAKER_01: Now, were you were you only in one hospital?
5:31
SPEAKER_01: Did you go to different hospitals?
5:33
SPEAKER_01: And I saw on on your Instagram, like I was checking your posts, and you describe and you show the videos of very chaotic scenes, you know.
5:42
SPEAKER_01: If you can just elaborate on that.
5:45
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so um I did one day at Najar Hospital, which was an absolute disaster.
5:50
SPEAKER_02: That was my first and last day there because it was so bad off that there was literally nothing we could do for them.
5:56
SPEAKER_02: Like it was just they they didn't have any resources that they needed, um, supplies, like that, like literally, it's it we it was that bad that we could not offer our help.
6:07
SPEAKER_02: It was it was sad because they're the ones who probably needed it the most, but it was just that chaotic.
6:13
SPEAKER_02: Um, I went there, I went to European Gaza Hospital the majority of my stay, and then we went to a like urgent care wound care clinic um for two of the days.
6:24
SPEAKER_02: So um, you want me to start with Najar?
6:28
SPEAKER_00: Or yeah, that would be that would be because I yeah, because honestly, like the fact that you said that they need the most help and you couldn't even help them, like that just that gosh, that's devastating.
6:40
SPEAKER_00: That is devastating because these people were probably waiting for you to make it there.
6:44
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, which was it was really heartbreaking.
6:47
SPEAKER_02: It was, you know, disheartening.
6:48
SPEAKER_02: I felt awful that you know we we couldn't go back, but it was just like if we go back, there's really nothing for us to do.
6:56
SPEAKER_02: Like we can't do anything without the resources that they need.
6:58
SPEAKER_02: So Najar Hospital is a small 16-bed hospital, and um, they had over 300 admissions.
7:06
SPEAKER_02: They don't even have a CAT scan machine.
7:08
SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, so a lot of their patients they had to ship over to European Gaza Hospital because that's the last big hospital left that they have.
7:17
SPEAKER_02: Um, and that one's even partially functioning.
7:20
SPEAKER_02: That's not a fully functioning hospital.
7:23
SPEAKER_02: So um, right when I walked into Najpital, oh, there were hundreds of people in their small ER.
7:30
SPEAKER_02: And the majority, I would say a good majority of them were the family members of the injured ones, you know, Arabs, big families, you know, one for all, all for one.
7:41
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
7:41
SPEAKER_02: Somebody gets injured, the whole family is coming, you know, all 10 kids and the grandkids.
7:47
SPEAKER_02: So um there were just people sprout out on the floor, lying on the ground.
7:52
SPEAKER_02: The patients were lying on the ground, and then their family members were standing all around.
7:56
SPEAKER_02: And the minute I walked in and um a surgeon, well, like there were three of us that walked in and we were wearing scrubs, they were like, doctor, doctor, doctor.
8:04
SPEAKER_02: And they all had like a triage paper, so they would hand it to us and be like, help me, help me, help me.
8:09
SPEAKER_02: Like my loved one is on the ground here or in that room, or you know, just like pure chaos.
8:15
SPEAKER_02: Just everybody handing us a paper saying, Help, help, help.
8:18
SPEAKER_00: So where is you're getting this triage paper?
8:20
SPEAKER_00: Is there still like a functioning intake at this hospital?
8:23
SPEAKER_00: Or barely because barely.
8:26
SPEAKER_02: So I it was surprising.
8:27
SPEAKER_02: There is a front desk, but a lot of people just bypass it.
8:31
SPEAKER_02: The majority, I would say the majority did stop and get a triage paper, but there was um a good amount.
8:38
SPEAKER_02: I would say, I mean, I would say maybe less than a quarter of them did not have triage papers because when we finally went around to them, we were like, Where's your paper?
8:47
SPEAKER_02: And they were like, We never got one.
8:48
SPEAKER_02: So we were like, Okay, can you just go like to the desk and just get a piece of paper?
8:52
SPEAKER_02: So um it was just it they don't have like a computer system like we have that you know puts the people in order that you know at the time that they arrived or anything like that.
9:06
SPEAKER_02: So it's just literally they get handed a paper, and it's not even time stamped, I don't think.
9:12
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, just speaking on that, on the on the on the differences, you know, because you are uh you've been a nurse in America and you've worked at some of probably the best hospitals, right, with all the equipment on all the medical uh uh supplies.
9:28
SPEAKER_01: Uh so how can you discuss more about like the difference like for someone who's who's in the medical field for nurses and doctors here, uh and and just people, can you kind of uh uh discuss or talk about uh just the lack of equipment and how different it is?
9:45
SPEAKER_01: Because you mentioned right now, like even the triage you know section of it, like if you can just talk more about the differences and how you know there's no supplies if just just tell us about what you saw and what's what's needed and and and things that you can't even imagine that these people don't have.
10:06
SPEAKER_02: Well it was just it was so chaotic that I couldn't even pay attention to what they were missing.
10:12
SPEAKER_02: They had a cabinet, literally a cabinet with a few medications in there, nothing like I didn't even look at what meds they had, but there were just a couple of vials, like literally maybe like 10 vials of meds, and it's in a cabinet that's open in front of all those, you know, patients and the relatives.
10:30
SPEAKER_02: They could easily just grab it if they needed it.
10:33
SPEAKER_02: But um, there weren't many meds in that cabinet.
10:36
SPEAKER_02: Um, I can tell you that.
10:38
SPEAKER_02: Um, I know that they needed an ultrasound machine for one of my patients, and uh it wouldn't turn on, so it wasn't even functioning.
10:47
SPEAKER_02: Um as far as oh, so also Najar Hospital, like if you go outside of it, they made like a tent for like the orthopedically wounded patients.
10:58
SPEAKER_02: Oh god.
10:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and so they were in a tent, and there were oh my god, people with wounds, infected wounds there for days.
11:07
SPEAKER_02: They were like, Doctor, doctor, I can smell my flesh.
11:10
SPEAKER_02: Like I've been waiting for surgery for a week now.
11:12
SPEAKER_02: Like, can you please change my dressings or whatever?
11:15
SPEAKER_02: And like we went to splint them, what splint this one kid with a broken arm, and they didn't they ran out of like the plaster.
11:23
SPEAKER_02: So we were like, my goodness.
11:24
SPEAKER_02: So we just had to make a modified sling with uh ace wrap for him.
11:28
SPEAKER_00: Oh my god.
11:30
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and and the and the material that they do have, like their ace wraps, it's not like the good quality ace wraps we have here.
11:36
SPEAKER_02: It's like it's like uh fishnet pantyhose, like it's like terrible, like very cheap.
11:43
SPEAKER_02: It will rip easily.
11:44
SPEAKER_02: Like, I know that you item.
11:47
SPEAKER_00: I know that leaving from here, I remember I remember when I when I when I first started following your story, right?
11:52
SPEAKER_00: When you were like a dullest and you started posting online, I know that you hood like a whole suitcase like full of supplies.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: How quickly did that run out based on what you're saying?
12:01
SPEAKER_00: Like so one suitcase doesn't even seem like it would cover the patients in the tent you just described, waiting for their you know infected limbs to be handled.
12:12
SPEAKER_02: Right.
12:12
SPEAKER_02: So we took a lot of um my items to the wound care clinic um that we went to because they needed it a lot.
12:21
SPEAKER_02: Like they they had um, I think about 200 patients a day at minimum, just to the wound care side.
12:27
SPEAKER_02: So we gave them like the majority of my stuff, which I kind of wish I held on to some of it for European Gaza Hospital.
12:37
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
12:37
SPEAKER_02: Because they needed some stuff.
12:38
SPEAKER_02: However, our orthopedic surgeon brought a whole bunch of supplies too.
12:42
SPEAKER_02: So he took all of his to European Gaza.
12:44
SPEAKER_02: Um, Najar, unfortunately, Najar, we did not give much to that day that I went because um we had to filter everything through the Ministry of Health.
12:58
SPEAKER_02: They have to inspect first.
13:00
SPEAKER_02: And that was our very first day.
13:02
SPEAKER_02: So it wasn't as we weren't as prepared.
13:05
SPEAKER_02: So we didn't bring as much with us.
13:07
SPEAKER_02: Had we known it was gonna be that bad, we would have taken probably everything to them.
13:11
SPEAKER_02: But um, they were day one and the last day that we went back.
13:15
SPEAKER_02: So um after that, we took all of our stuff to the clinic because that was a day two and three.
13:21
SPEAKER_02: We we took everything there um from my end, like my supplies.
13:27
SPEAKER_02: And then the orthopedic surgeon took it.
13:30
SPEAKER_00: I I can't imagine, um, I can't imagine like showing up to a place like Najar and then not being able to do anything and then leaving because you're like, well, this is not.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: I mean, look, I get it as a medical professional, you have to take some really hard calls, right?
13:44
SPEAKER_00: And you have to kind of make an assessment with the supplies that you have and what you see of, okay, this is this is that's it, this is like end all, like we're done.
13:52
SPEAKER_00: I'm not even gonna touch this, and I'm gonna go where there's slight hope, which has to be devastating on like a multitude of different levels because I'm sure you want it to help everybody.
14:00
SPEAKER_02: But of course, and they only had Major only has one, maybe two operating rooms.
14:06
SPEAKER_02: So, like our surgeons, I had a plastic surgeon and an orthopedic surgeon with me.
14:10
SPEAKER_02: They were like, Okay, well, what are we gonna do?
14:12
SPEAKER_02: There's other surgeons there too.
14:14
SPEAKER_02: Are we gonna fight over a room?
14:15
SPEAKER_02: I was like, I don't know, can we put bunk beds?
14:17
SPEAKER_02: Like, yeah, you know what I mean?
14:21
SPEAKER_02: It was it was bad.
14:22
SPEAKER_02: It was just it was so bad that we couldn't help, if that makes sense.
14:26
SPEAKER_00: No, I I completely understand what you're saying.
14:28
SPEAKER_00: And and I know that um I love that you're speaking about this in such a um like it's like it's like super direct and very honest and very open.
14:38
SPEAKER_00: And I really, really love that because um honestly, like it it's hard.
14:43
SPEAKER_00: It's really hard to go and see everything that I'm sure that you've seen and not have like a very um, I don't know, like I would be traumatized.
14:52
SPEAKER_00: Like I just watch on my Instagram and on, you know, the news and stuff, and I'm thoroughly and wholly traumatized.
14:59
SPEAKER_00: But seeing how you live that and and everything, what is probably like what is can you just explain to us some of the stuff that's like that you've seen that like really stuck with you?
15:10
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, unfortunately I I've dealt with this for a long time, my whole career.
15:16
SPEAKER_02: I mean, for the past decade, you know, whether it was in the ER or in an OR or shock trauma, Baltimore for two years, like um I I'm kind of used to death and dying, unfortunately.
15:27
SPEAKER_02: So I'm a little desensitized to that part of it.
15:32
SPEAKER_02: But uh the injuries there were definitely different.
15:35
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like you don't see blast wounds on people here, you know what I mean?
15:40
SPEAKER_02: You don't see obliterated body parts.
15:42
SPEAKER_02: Um, that was the difference for sure.
15:45
SPEAKER_02: Um, there I don't know if it's the drones or missiles, but whatever um is hitting these people shoots out micro shrapnel all over them, like head to toe, and it embeds shrapnel all over them.
15:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I don't know if you saw that like freckled shrapnel.
16:02
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I saw that.
16:03
SPEAKER_02: Head to toe.
16:04
SPEAKER_02: But um, so it was it was like all over everybody.
16:07
SPEAKER_02: Like every patient and European had that on them in the OR.
16:11
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, what is this?
16:12
SPEAKER_02: And and it's really hard.
16:13
SPEAKER_02: You got to dig out that shrapnel out of every hole because this is what the doctors there suspect.
16:21
SPEAKER_02: They suspect that there might be uranium in it, which is super toxic um to your kidneys.
16:27
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, especially because they said they've never seen anything like this before.
16:32
SPEAKER_02: Um pretty much like when it's embedded, whatever they can't get out.
16:38
SPEAKER_02: Um sorry, my son.
16:40
SPEAKER_02: You're fine.
16:41
SPEAKER_02: Okay, sorry, to hear background noise.
16:44
SPEAKER_02: But yeah, whatever they can't get out, that site of the wound gets super angry, super infected the next as the days go on, like it just grows bigger.
16:54
SPEAKER_02: The wound site gets you know more red, hot, and flames, and more pus.
16:59
SPEAKER_02: Um, it just gets super angry by the day if they don't get that shrapnel out.
17:04
SPEAKER_02: So they suspect that there's something super toxic within that metal.
17:08
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
17:09
SPEAKER_02: And they don't have the means to test it there.
17:11
SPEAKER_02: They don't have a lab that will test for that.
17:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
17:14
SPEAKER_01: So I wanted just to kind of follow up on that.
17:17
SPEAKER_01: Was there ever a moment there that you felt helpless?
17:20
SPEAKER_01: Like you you couldn't help these people?
17:23
SPEAKER_02: 100%.
17:24
SPEAKER_02: Um, not in the wound.
17:26
SPEAKER_02: Well, yeah, actually, I would say, I would say 95% of the time, I felt like it was a helpless, hopeless situation.
17:35
SPEAKER_02: Um, the only time I felt like I did something good um was when I was in the wound care clinic.
17:43
SPEAKER_02: Um the most minute, the most silly situation ever.
17:49
SPEAKER_02: But there was a lady who had a wound on her hand, this older lady.
17:53
SPEAKER_02: And her daughter, who was probably like in her 30s, accompanied her.
17:58
SPEAKER_02: And her mom, as she was getting wound care um performed on her, asked if her daughter can um get her skin tag on her chest removed.
18:07
SPEAKER_02: You know, it's a cosmetic for a cosmetic reason.
18:10
SPEAKER_02: She has this like pretty gnarly looking skin tag on her chest that she didn't like.
18:16
SPEAKER_02: And so I had a cottery stick, a bogey stick that one of our orthopedic surgeons brought with us.
18:21
SPEAKER_02: Um, so I was like, sure, I can actually remove that.
18:24
SPEAKER_02: So I took the cottery stick and I removed it.
18:26
SPEAKER_02: And and that lady was just, you should have seen the smile on her face.
18:31
SPEAKER_02: And she kept like just rubbing on her chest, like, oh my god, it's not there anymore.
18:35
SPEAKER_02: And then she was like looking down at her shirt, like it was like, I don't know, that the isn't that sad that that story is what sticks out to me because the rest were so helpless and hopeless that the one person that I was able to satisfy cosmetically is what stuck with me.
18:54
SPEAKER_02: But that's how sad it is there.
18:55
SPEAKER_02: The fact that I removed her skin tag that cosmetically bothered her.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: But honestly, I'll I'll tell you, I'll tell you why.
19:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's it's not because um, it's not because it's like, you know, stupid or anything like that.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: It's because when you're tweeting somebody who probably has such grave wounds, right?
19:12
SPEAKER_00: Like you're saying, the freckled shrapnel and digging it out when they're screaming and and people probably crying and stuff like that.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, this was a moment of like instant satisfaction where you can see where you make a difference.
19:25
SPEAKER_00: And it's hard as humans, we know that, especially when you're stuck in a situation that's like so helpless, like seriously listening to everything like God bless you, because I cannot begin to imagine even having half the skills that you do and walking into a place like this.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: Like my anxiety would get the best of me.
19:43
SPEAKER_00: I'd be completely and totally overwhelmed.
19:45
SPEAKER_00: I'd probably curl up into a ball and be like, I'm too good.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: Like, I can't, I can't even I can't make it through.
19:51
SPEAKER_00: It's so, so, so hard.
19:53
SPEAKER_02: I would say, and I would feel the same way if you put me in front of a computer with data.
19:59
SPEAKER_02: Like I would feel the same way.
20:01
SPEAKER_02: Like, what do I do?
20:02
SPEAKER_02: Fall up in a you know, corner, cry.
20:05
SPEAKER_00: What do I do with I I no, no, I feel you.
20:09
SPEAKER_00: But I wanted to um I I wanted to specifically ask you.
20:13
SPEAKER_00: I could you were just about, you know, seeing these things in person.
20:16
SPEAKER_00: We see these things in video all the time, right?
20:19
SPEAKER_00: And I know you probably were watching a lot, which probably had a lot to do with your decision to go.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: Um, what was it like?
20:26
SPEAKER_00: I could describe some of the scenes at Najar, you would describe some of the scenes at, you know, the uh European Gaza Hospital and at the wound clinic, but like walking in and seeing just the insanity, receiving people from bombings, like what's that like in in like as I like to say IRL, like in real life, what is that like?
20:46
SPEAKER_02: So, I mean, uh, so one day we were driving to European Gaza Hospital and a couple blocks away they dropped a bomb.
20:53
SPEAKER_02: And as we were pulling up, um we like two minutes later, a convoy of you know civilians start rolling in with their cars and they're you know, the victims of that bombing.
21:07
SPEAKER_02: And it was just pure chaos.
21:09
SPEAKER_02: Well, first of all, in front of European Gaza Hospital, um, because people think that it's safe, although historically speaking, hospitals are not safe there, um, but they think it's a safe ground.
21:21
SPEAKER_02: So a lot of them seek refuge there and they all set up shop.
21:24
SPEAKER_02: Like, like I think I posted a video, like there's like thousands of people in the way in front of the hospital that you have to drive through.
21:32
SPEAKER_02: Like I know we tap bodies trying to get through with our van, you know.
21:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
21:37
SPEAKER_02: Thousands of people just standing and and bartering.
21:40
SPEAKER_02: Um, like if they get food from a humanitarian aid truck, like canned foods or anything, like they won't eat.
21:47
SPEAKER_02: They'll barter it to try to get money so that they can flee.
21:50
SPEAKER_02: Like go through Egypt for I think eight, ten thousand dollars was the running cost, I think, to get out.
21:56
SPEAKER_02: So they're they barter there.
21:58
SPEAKER_02: Um, they try to.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: sell whatever they have there.
22:01
SPEAKER_02: It's like a big like uh farmers market, if you will.
22:05
SPEAKER_00: Like I mean, basically what you're describing to me is like like honestly what you're describing to me is the scene out of every like zombie movie or every end of the world movie that we see in a hot yeah apocalyptic movie where people are literally it's it's end of this is like end of world behavior.
22:22
SPEAKER_00: It's just do or die, get out or get bombed is what's happening to them right now.
22:27
SPEAKER_00: So I like completely understand why you wouldn't eat this food and instead try to find a way to get your family out.
22:34
SPEAKER_00: And what you're describing to me is like that's pure chaos.
22:37
SPEAKER_00: It's not even organized chaos.
22:38
SPEAKER_00: It's just chaos.
22:39
SPEAKER_02: It is it's really sad.
22:40
SPEAKER_02: It's that that killed me.
22:41
SPEAKER_02: And then when we would drive into the hospital um there were days uh there was one day uh oh god this guy was walking out with his baby wrapped in a white sheet out of a hospital with this look of deceit and sorrow and he was by himself which was odd I was like where where is his family he was walking out with his child wrapped in a blanket just by himself like the saddest look God it is just the worst sight ever.
23:08
SPEAKER_02: That guy he really stuck out to me but um there were plenty of times when we would drive into the hospital you would see a bunch of you know men wrapped in white sheets and they're like marching down with these men, you know, or bodies I don't know if it's men, but bodies wrapped in white sheets you know marching down the street by the hospital.
23:28
SPEAKER_02: So it was really sad to see that there was like a graveyard near the hospital um I saw like maybe 30 men I guess burying somebody and then when we had turned the corner I was like holy crap there were like hundreds of bodies I was like like it was insane you there was like a rock for like tombstone to like say like this is where the bodies are yeah it was it was terrible literally like it's it's like you can't prepare yourself.
23:55
SPEAKER_02: Like I thought I saw enough like online to prepare myself but it's I mean it's just wild.
24:01
SPEAKER_02: It's it's absolutely insane that this is actually happening in real life and for 150 days at that.
24:09
SPEAKER_00: I mean I think it's um I look I I see I see that you're you're getting emotional just like just thinking about it.
24:16
SPEAKER_00: I I like I said I cannot imagine like how powering it is to this in real life because I sit there and Lena sits there and we discuss this like a couple times a week what it's got to us a lot of times I sometimes I feel like this broke up today.
24:32
SPEAKER_00: Okay I spent an hour crying over this thing so I can't imagine if I'm crying over this on my screen I can't imagine how you would feel watching this happen in front of you in real time and then be expected to uh go into a hospital and function and have your adrenaline rush through your body and be there to take people and be there to receive the people that are coming out of this bombing.
24:55
SPEAKER_02: Like I like how that day after doing how are you doing like now that you're home how are you doing um when uh like I like I said I eat work you know sleep and then advocate for Reza repeat um so I'm really distracted I'm really busy it's therapeutic for me to get out and go to these merches um do these interviews make these speeches um it's an outlet for me so it's super therapeutic um I mean I feel like I'm blessed honestly when people ask me how I'm doing I'm like I'm blessed I'm vertical I'm secure I'm safe I mean I feel blessed I mean I'm sad and I worry I I made friends there.
25:44
SPEAKER_02: I have a nurse in um a nurse anesthetist um Lena shout out to Lena um I made really good friends with there and uh nurse Hassan um from the clinic that I made good friends with and some of the surgeons um Dr.
25:59
SPEAKER_02: Ahmed and Dr.
26:00
SPEAKER_02: Muhammad so I've I've made friends there and um so every day like like it's my job I'm checking Instagram like I'm looking at these videos in Rafah and I'm like concerned like oh my God are they okay and I'm texting them every day at least like five times a day you know throughout the day I'm like hey you guys good everything okay like are you guys here like just worried for them and so that consumes my life when I'm not doing one of the four things that I said I do it's literally just I'm on my phone like checking in on them looking at the videos praying to God I don't see any of those kids um there that I've fallen in love with around European Gaza Hospital and around the clinic um like I'm just so pre-consumed with that.
26:46
SPEAKER_00: I know you just mentioned that you'd made some really awesome friends right like the nurses and the doctors and that you keep in touch with them on a regular basis.
26:55
SPEAKER_00: From the two weeks that you spent there can you tell me like one life lesson that you've learned from the people of Gaza because I'm sure you learned a lot while you were there but just one thing that you learned about them and from them.
27:06
SPEAKER_00: So I guess two things two part question about them is it's tough.
27:12
SPEAKER_02: Like um everyone says oh they're so resilient they're so resilient and and you know while we might think they are so resilient I mean they're really they're humans at the end of the day you know what I mean it's still it's still very tough on them.
27:28
SPEAKER_02: I I have had patients who come they attempted to commit suicide like putting their risk drinking chemicals like so although we're seeing a resilience online with a good majority maybe of them um it really they're still human at the end of the day.
27:45
SPEAKER_02: So um I've learned that because going in I was like ah they're the strongest people ever and they're so resilient whatever but then I realized no there's they're human and they they're suffering and and they have a breaking point too.
27:58
SPEAKER_02: So I've learned that about them.
28:01
SPEAKER_02: But I've also learned that their faith in God is so strong and that's what's carrying them through they're they're just so faithful.
28:11
SPEAKER_02: They're faithful people and and they do believe in like God's plan is the best plan despite what it is but um it's hard.
28:19
SPEAKER_02: It's so hard on them.
28:21
SPEAKER_02: So is there is there a specific patient that you still think about a patient that you treated that you still think about oh yeah many um I mean there so I mean there's this pregnant lady that I've mentioned um I'm sure you saw at Bwadi the one um that I mentioned who asked about if Americans knew that if this was happening or not um she stuck out to me um the children that I've taken care of have you know there was this one kid um who we were suturing his hand he cut his hand on metal and um we were suturing his hand and he was just like shouting out I'm hungry I'm hungry I'm hungry and then um I was like yeah I'm like the kid's hungry and then his dad was like and he was like oh which is um for people don't know Arabic his dad asked um what do you want to eat and he was like I want eggs and potatoes and he was like well we don't have eggs or potatoes so like what can I do for you and I was just like oh my goodness like my heart just tore it I was like God if I had eggs and potatoes right now I would try them up for him I was just so bothered by that I was like this poor kid that all he wants is eggs and potatoes and so um I didn't have anything on me so I gave him a stick of gum I felt so bad I was like I gotta give him something and I only had gum on me in my fanny pack.
29:48
SPEAKER_02: So I gave him a stick of gum like it was the best I couldn't do.
29:51
SPEAKER_02: I'm like that stands out because I I have a regret like God I wish I brought snacks with me that day to work.
29:59
SPEAKER_02: Like I wish I that killed me.
30:01
SPEAKER_02: Like things like that bother me.
30:03
SPEAKER_02: All the kids in the street who would you know come up to us and and ask us for food and like we didn't have any on us like that would kill me.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: Like that I was like God if I go back again I'm literally just going to carry a backpack of snacks and like just distribute because I felt so awful being like I don't have anything to give you um but it's really hard I mean sorry it's really hard because like you're you're leaving you're basically leaving to go to work every day right like nobody rolls you it's not ex you can't expect to to fill your fanny pack with you know snacks and I only brought enough food for myself like um because we had to provide our own food for two weeks.
30:50
SPEAKER_02: So I brought protein bars.
30:52
SPEAKER_02: That's literally what I brought I brought um trail mix with nuts and um fruit dried fruit and then um protein bars.
31:00
SPEAKER_02: So that's all I had and I didn't bring that many because I filled everything with supplies.
31:05
SPEAKER_02: I was like I'd rather get supplies over than food for myself.
31:09
SPEAKER_02: So um I didn't have much I only had enough food for myself um which were like a few protein bars and and I mean it was I lost five pounds quick but um I just wish I brought more food for them.
31:23
SPEAKER_02: So I saw on your um on your Instagram this really it's it's nice but sad at the same time the story about the the lady that uh gave you a small piece of fruit and you took a picture of this yeah see so much has happened as hard Najab so yes so she was one of the ones who was handing me a form like help me help me help me and all she wanted actually was the most simple the most simple request she was like can you just explain what this form is telling me I need to do for my mom so I told her I was like oh like this is the blood pressure medication they want her to start taking um you know increase her water intake which is so hard to say to them because we have water right it's right so how it was so hard.
32:10
SPEAKER_02: It's like dude how do I speak to them when like they are limited on the resources like how do I say drink plenty of fluid to somebody that doesn't have access to it right so I was just um telling her what her discharge instructions were and after I went over her discharge instructions um she pulled out that piece of fruit from her bag and was like here please take this and I was like no no no no in my mind I'm thinking this might be her last bite this might be the last piece of food that she has so I was like no no no no thank you like I'm I'm okay um and she insisted she was like no no no take it and I didn't want her to think that I'm disgusted of her or you know what I mean or I thought something like I thought of it as something like less than what it was or you know so I um I took it and I felt bad for taking it but I took it from her and I was like you know it just broke my heart.
33:02
SPEAKER_01: I was like my God I pray that she has more of those you mentioned uh mental health and I know you went there and you've you've tended to the physical wounds uh and the injured uh but can you talk about just some of the cases that you saw uh around mental health so yeah so um fortunately I I did not deal with a lot of that that probably would have broken me even more I only had two days in that urgent care clinic so those um you know when you're in the OR the patients are well I would have loved to have said sedated but uh not many of them were sedated they just had walks to numb them before surgery so like you had what I'm sorry like they're we call them tap walks so um pretty much you numb up like a region of their body so they don't feel it but they're awake oh my god horrific kind of like C-sections you know like how you're awake but you're numbed okay because I yeah is that so basically what you're doing so that's still like better than what I've seen or what I've like read on you know online or the videos I've seen that there's people who are having surgery without any anesthesia.
34:12
SPEAKER_00: So what you're performing is still okay.
34:15
SPEAKER_02: As far as the pain management goes it's better.
34:18
SPEAKER_02: They don't have any narcotics or opioids I mean they don't have like morphine or anything so they it's like tortill which is like uh ibuprofen ID that's as hard as it gets for them but um but you were asked so I was a bit of time but so the two days I was in the clinic um with the mental health um I mean we did like I said I had patients who tried splitting her wrist uh there was a kid who tried drinking chemicals um there were people who just um were mute they just weren't talking they were just like flat effect like just stunned looking and just not even talking like you would talk to them and they they were just like staring in a daze like shocked shook like it was terrible um I mean I always you know I I try to be you know super friendly and you know distracting and whatnot but like some of them they they just were shook and and you just do the room care in silence kind of and and move on and it's sad.
35:19
SPEAKER_00: I'm not a therapist um I never studied to be one we spoke you know in nursing school they teach you a little bit about therapeutic communication but that's as far as that goes that's the extent of my therapeutic you know training so um fortunately I did not have to deal much with that uh that would have broke me because I feel like especially like as an OR nose you're probably not talking to any of your patients.
35:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah yeah but in the ER you know the ER you do you do a lot of time but um and a lot of people were actually appreciative too like thank you for being here thank you for taking care of us thank you you know for for risking your life coming here like I can't believe like you left America to come here like so many people were so grateful.
36:06
SPEAKER_00: So they were on this on this very point that you made right here right the fact that people despite everything happening to them and being done to them are still like welcoming enough and happy happy thinking of you you left your life you left your family you left the comfort of your home thank you for being here thank you for for helping us like I was stunned yeah and and they thought I was white and some thought I was Israeli and they were still the kids were saying shalom to me I was like wow god bless their hearts I was like that's amazing like you know what I mean like despite everything going on they they they don't know that I'm Arab and they're still grateful and gracious towards me and still trying to give me like uh the staff members there they're homeless and in European Gaza hospital a good majority of the staff there the doctors homeless homeless like they live in the hospital in a tent which is like made with sheep like they hang up sheep and like as a partition in the hospital thousands of people seeking refuge in the hospital so like you can walk freely throughout the hospital anywhere like up downstairs anywhere like and there's just people everywhere seeking refuge just camping out I guess my question and and I'm sorry if this seems like a stupid question or a dumb question um but what is it what I mean is it just like a free for all you can go anywhere like if you're in the operating room is there like somebody at the door to block people from coming in you know can you just are there just is it just bodies everywhere like awake like like people who are awake people who are asleep people walking people talk like what does it look like that exactly what you think that's interesting yeah not one security staff member I didn't see one police officer I don't think they even have such a thing there um like all throughout Gaza when I was there like in Russia at least I did not see one police officer one security staff member in the hospitals nothing it's just I was able to freely walk throughout the whole hospital um it's just families everywhere seeking refuge camping out in the hospital like even in the OR there's a red line like do not cross because it's got to stay sterile um people were people were just like coming right into the operating room like even press press would just walk right in right into the OR and I was like what like what's going on so um it was wild like we had uh family members just walk right into the OR during surgery like there's nobody there to like monitor the OR at least and like the whole hospital like it's that's just insane too much so there were there were no there were you're basically um telling us that everyone can go wherever they want no one is preventing you from going to a certain section of the hospital um because you and I are both aware what the Israeli government keeps saying that you know these hospitals oh yeah are oh yeah are you know there's there's Hamas members there.
39:16
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
39:17
SPEAKER_01: So I mean like what you're describing.
39:20
SPEAKER_02: I freely walked about the whole hospital there was nobody blocking any entrances or there wasn't a do not cross sign or anything like there are kids everywhere.
39:30
SPEAKER_00: The majority of what's in the hospital are children children no armed people at the hospital right because you said no security no police there's no I'm asking no armed people at the hospitals right I did not see an armed person ever while I was there.
39:44
SPEAKER_01: I mean we kind of already knew this but like here we have an eyewitness we used to been there.
39:48
SPEAKER_02: Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah absolutely like it like there were there nothing was like like forbidden to you know you couldn't cross like a certain section or anything like that.
39:59
SPEAKER_01: If there was something to hide yeah if there was something to hide they tell you no you can't go to that section of the hospital right there was yeah I would assume that there would be somebody like hey but no I was really walking throughout the whole hospital as well as the other staff members.
40:15
SPEAKER_02: I even I was looking for a bathroom actually and um I got lost ended up like going throughout the whole hospital like trying to find a bathroom.
40:24
SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
40:26
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
40:26
SPEAKER_00: So in the two weeks that you were there which like probably seemed like it was it probably felt like two minutes and two years all at the same time right um how was communication with your family like how did you stay in touch with your family here I'm sure you're I'm sure your family was like I look like any other family I'm sure some of them were like you go girl and the other ones were like you're crazy.
40:48
SPEAKER_02: But like how did you one how did they feel about you going to like how did you keep in touch with them because you're a mom you have a son right how did that go he was not thrilled uh he probably gave me the hardest time he was like um like I mean you're his mom I get it yeah and and he's my only one right he was like like this is a suicide mission you realize right you're probably not gonna come back alive and I was like oh don't think like that I was like I'm I'm going with part of like the UN you know what I mean like I think I'll be safe like the they're going to you know put us in a safe place in a safe house and um I just felt like I would be safe like I was like don't worry about it it'll be okay it's not like I'm going independently um it's super organized so um he was super you know upset about it and he was the most um resistant like he he did not want me to go at all now my parents surprisingly stayed pretty quiet when I told them I was going which really like I thought that they would be like absolutely not like we're gonna disown you like don't you think about it I don't know but the yeah I know what you mean.
42:01
SPEAKER_02: No yeah I thought that they would be really upset.
42:04
SPEAKER_02: Yeah but they were like um my mom just stayed quiet um and I guess she was processing them my dad was like you have a skill set that they need I can't stand in the way of their you know blessing like you're going to bless them with a skill that they need and I cannot stand in that way.
42:20
SPEAKER_02: So I was like wow okay my siblings um they were supportive but I know amongst themselves they were like she's insane like really it's crazy and then like like a day or two before they were like okay okay you know maybe you should rethink this like you know they they told you at any given moment you can change your mind you know that's okay like don't feel bad like you can change your mind so like literally like the day before my siblings were like yeah maybe you should just back out like it's okay it's okay too because they knew I was supposed to initially I was supposed to be in off the hospital and up the hospital and that's when like it started to go down there and they were like oh no no no they were like you you can't like you you just have to back out you do and I was like I can't I'm not backing out I got this far I'm not backing out I'm going through with it and like like subhanAllah how everything like my stars aligned like everything happened within the speed of light for me like it was like my fate um I first of all I had gotten a new job like seven eight months ago and they have a six month um vacation request um requirement and I was like oh my god like when I got approved and they told me I had two and a half weeks to deploy I was like who like what am I gonna do?
43:36
SPEAKER_02: Like I don't know how I'm gonna get you know my job to agree to this especially because sadly the day that I had to tell them the day I found out that I was you know approved to go within two and a half weeks was the same day one of my colleagues, God rest her soul um died in a car accident driving home from work.
43:56
SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
43:56
SPEAKER_02: So I was like oh I know I was like we're man down This is really upsetting news.
44:01
SPEAKER_02: Like the whole staff is upset.
44:03
SPEAKER_02: How am I going to go up to them today and be like, oh, by the way, um, I need like three weeks off and two and a half weeks.
44:10
SPEAKER_02: You know, I was like, God, how am I gonna do this?
44:12
SPEAKER_02: How am I gonna do this?
44:12
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, forget it, I'm gonna do it.
44:14
SPEAKER_02: So I actually went in honestly with the mentality that if they denied it, then I was just gonna have to quit and then get a travel job when I get back.
44:22
SPEAKER_02: Like I just went in with that mentality.
44:24
SPEAKER_02: I was like, I mean, I can ask.
44:26
SPEAKER_02: That's you know, worst case scenario, I lose my job.
44:29
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
44:30
SPEAKER_02: And then I just find a travel gig when I get back.
44:33
SPEAKER_02: So I asked them, and surprisingly, um, you know, I was really emotional.
44:38
SPEAKER_02: I have family, you know, I'm Palestinian of Palestinian descent.
44:41
SPEAKER_02: I have family in um Jerusalem.
44:44
SPEAKER_02: And so it's it's very meaningful.
44:46
SPEAKER_02: You know, these are my people, and and I like I said, I have a skill set that they need and and I can help them.
44:54
SPEAKER_02: Um, so I was emotional.
44:56
SPEAKER_02: I was crying about it.
44:57
SPEAKER_02: You know, I was really, you know, super emotional when I was requesting the time off.
45:01
SPEAKER_02: And um, I think my director just like felt for me and she was like, Yeah, I mean, she is a nurse too.
45:06
SPEAKER_02: So she is compassionate and she is caring and she understood, and so she approved it.
45:10
SPEAKER_02: So I was like, wow, that's crazy because like everybody, like the staff always had, you know, gripes about how difficult it was to get days off there.
45:22
SPEAKER_02: Like, so I was like, wow, I can't believe that that happened, and then that my parents approved, and then that like I'm going in two and a half weeks, like everything just like smoothly worked out.
45:31
SPEAKER_02: And then I like put up a GoFundMe, and then like within 12 hours, raised like$10,000.
45:37
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, okay, that's enough.
45:38
SPEAKER_02: Like, shut it down.
45:39
SPEAKER_02: It's amazing.
45:40
SPEAKER_02: I bought all the supplies I needed.
45:41
SPEAKER_02: Like everything happened within like two weeks, and I was like, the speed it was meant to be safe.
45:47
SPEAKER_00: It was you know, I think more than just meant to be.
45:49
SPEAKER_00: Yes, absolutely.
45:50
SPEAKER_00: I do believe it's meant to be.
45:51
SPEAKER_00: And shout out to your director for having a heart and giving you the time off.
45:55
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sorry to hear about your colleague.
45:57
SPEAKER_00: It's never easy losing a colleague, and especially in these circumstances, especially with you know, people of your skill set.
46:03
SPEAKER_00: You guys are always wanted everywhere in every part of the world.
46:06
SPEAKER_00: But I think more so than it being meant to be, just listening to you talk about this.
46:11
SPEAKER_00: It's like I think, I think it's not just that it's everything aligned.
46:15
SPEAKER_00: I think if you're so passionate about it, sometimes we're like, okay, everything just worked out for me.
46:19
SPEAKER_00: But I think a lot of it is you pushing to make this happen and to make this work.
46:23
SPEAKER_00: So, like, kudos to you.
46:24
SPEAKER_00: Like, what a like a what an amazing and honorable thing that you just did.
46:29
SPEAKER_00: I mean, and are you considering ever going back again?
46:33
SPEAKER_00: Or if you get the chance?
46:35
SPEAKER_02: I would, oh my God, I wish.
46:37
SPEAKER_02: So um, group two just deployed, um, and I they arrived there tomorrow, and I'm so jealous.
46:44
SPEAKER_02: Like, I wish I could be there.
46:45
SPEAKER_02: I was like, God, I wish I didn't have to work.
46:48
SPEAKER_02: I wish I didn't need money.
46:49
SPEAKER_02: Like, I would I would be right back with group two and three and four.
46:53
SPEAKER_02: Um, I will be honest, um, I would much rather go after a ceasefire because it was terrifying.
47:00
SPEAKER_02: Um, there were bombs being dropped all around the hospital.
47:04
SPEAKER_02: There was one day, you know, eight bombs within 30 minutes had dropped.
47:08
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, this is it.
47:09
SPEAKER_02: The hospital's shaking, the windows are rattling.
47:12
SPEAKER_02: Um, I was like, this is it.
47:13
SPEAKER_02: This is I I'm gonna die today.
47:15
SPEAKER_02: Like I was terrified.
47:16
SPEAKER_02: I was like, this is the last breath I'm probably gonna take.
47:19
SPEAKER_02: Like, that's literally what I was thinking.
47:21
SPEAKER_02: And all I could think about was my son, and it was just so sad.
47:24
SPEAKER_02: Like, I was like, God, I promised him I'd come back, but it is like terrifying.
47:31
SPEAKER_02: So I I would prefer to go after a ceasefire just because I don't want to feel that way ever again.
47:37
SPEAKER_02: But I would do it.
47:40
SPEAKER_02: I know I'm insane enough to just do it.
47:42
SPEAKER_00: You're not, it's not insane.
47:44
SPEAKER_00: I think honestly, like if I could just some some like to sum this, like sum all this up, you're not crazy.
47:50
SPEAKER_00: You're probably it's not the most one of like the the the like you're you're you're human.
47:57
SPEAKER_00: You're human.
47:58
SPEAKER_00: This is why you want to go back and you want to help and you want to do this again.
48:02
SPEAKER_00: So, like, I think I'm attempted that you have this heart.
48:06
SPEAKER_00: And I think you would do this so passionately, because I think you would uh knowing you for as long as I have, I knew I know you would do this if it was Palestinian people, if it was anybody.
48:17
SPEAKER_00: If you had the chance to do this and you had the chance to sign up and somebody said, here, Lana, put your name on this link and set and go, you would 100% in a heartbeat do this.
48:26
SPEAKER_00: But I I know it's very different when it's it's your people.
48:30
SPEAKER_00: These are your people.
48:31
SPEAKER_00: Literally, there's a genocide being committed against your people.
48:34
SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah, I saw the other day that like Cuba had an insane number.
48:39
SPEAKER_02: It was like one nurse per 1,000 patients in Cuba.
48:44
SPEAKER_02: So I was like, all right, Cuba, you're next.
48:46
SPEAKER_01: I'm coming for you guys.
48:47
SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm coming.
48:48
SPEAKER_01: You talk about a lady who asks you, why is the world ignoring what's happening here?
48:54
SPEAKER_01: Like, why, why isn't anyone doing anything to stop the genocide?
48:58
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then you I'm I'm gonna let you uh describe what you how you spoke to her about it and what you showed her on your phone.
49:05
SPEAKER_01: Just if you can take the mic, please go ahead.
49:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, oh sure.
49:09
SPEAKER_02: So she um, yeah, she heard my accent and was like, Where are you from?
49:13
SPEAKER_02: And I said, Oh, I'm Palestinian, but born and raised in America.
49:16
SPEAKER_02: And so she was like, Yeah, do they know what's happening here?
49:20
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, uh Yeah, that's why I'm here.
49:22
SPEAKER_02: You know, we we see it and we're here for you because we see what's going on and we want to help you guys.
49:28
SPEAKER_02: And she was like, Well, then why is it still happening?
49:30
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, honey, let me show you.
49:32
SPEAKER_02: Like, I showed her um that half a million people had gone to DC like in January to protest for a ceasefire.
49:40
SPEAKER_02: And I showed her a um previous protest that we've had, large protests that we've had, and all around the world, like I like I started just showing her on my phone.
49:49
SPEAKER_02: I was like, look, look at this.
49:50
SPEAKER_02: This is in um London, this is in Denmark.
49:52
SPEAKER_02: My cousin lives in Denmark, and I was showing her their um videos, and I was like, This is all over the world.
49:58
SPEAKER_02: People are, you know, like the majority of the world is here with you.
50:02
SPEAKER_02: And she was like, Well, then why is this still happening?
50:03
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I mean, that's beyond me.
50:06
SPEAKER_02: All I can say is that I'm here for you, um, and we're trying our hardest.
50:10
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's like I I honestly, what can I say?
50:13
SPEAKER_02: What can I say?
50:14
SPEAKER_02: I have no control.
50:16
SPEAKER_02: This is beyond all of us by the masses, by the millions, billions, people around the world are, you know, saying, stop fee fire, please stop like killing these people.
50:29
SPEAKER_02: Um, but nothing's happening.
50:32
SPEAKER_02: So it's way above us.
50:33
SPEAKER_02: Like I've met with senators, I've met with representatives.
50:36
SPEAKER_02: Like, I mean, so many of us have uh healthcare workers have met with, you know, people in Congress.
50:44
SPEAKER_02: Like every day we go to the Senate or my group that I'm part of, um, they go to the Senate building daily and speak with legislative aides or the senators themselves and plead for cease fires.
50:57
SPEAKER_02: And like, I mean, we're doing everything.
50:59
SPEAKER_02: And 150 days later, nothing stopped it yet.
51:03
SPEAKER_02: So, like, I honestly I don't have a good answer for her.
51:05
SPEAKER_02: All I could tell her was that I was here and my colleagues were, and more people are coming.
51:10
SPEAKER_02: Uh, we weren't the only organization.
51:12
SPEAKER_02: Um, I saw Pama there, I saw UK Med there, Project Hope there.
51:16
SPEAKER_02: Um, I saw at least like four or five uh Rashma was there.
51:19
SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, I saw like four or five other organizations.
51:22
SPEAKER_00: Coming in with the UN Envoy?
51:24
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
51:25
SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah, yeah.
51:26
SPEAKER_02: They all came in with us.
51:27
SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, I think it I think we were about 11 bands, B.
51:32
SPEAKER_02: So with like five organizations.
51:34
SPEAKER_02: So like I was like, but you see, like we're we're coming, we're funneling in, we're trying our hardest.
51:39
SPEAKER_02: Um, we see you, we hear you, we cry for you, we're we're here for you.
51:43
SPEAKER_01: Like we're trying.
51:44
SPEAKER_01: And and what were some of the messages besides you know your conversation with this like what were some of the things that the people in Raza wanted you to let us know here?
51:54
SPEAKER_02: Well, oh no, so I did want to talk about this one conversation I had with this.
51:59
SPEAKER_02: Um, he was a nurse anesthetist, and his brother is also a nurse.
52:05
SPEAKER_02: And um he this is so sad, so sad.
52:10
SPEAKER_02: He was so excited one day when I went into work at um European Gaza Hospital.
52:14
SPEAKER_02: He was so excited, and I was like, oh, like trying to listen in on his conversation because he was like talking to one of his colleagues, and um, so I just interfered and I was like, Oh, yeah, what happened?
52:26
SPEAKER_02: I I hear you're excited.
52:27
SPEAKER_02: He was like, My brother just got released, and I was like, Oh, what do you mean?
52:30
SPEAKER_02: And he was like, Yeah, my brother is also a nurse, and um they um Israeli forces took him for 46 days, blindfolded him, beat him brutally, broke his ribs, broke his nose, um, they tied his hands behind his back.
52:47
SPEAKER_02: Um, they made him eat like a dog, like they made him like bob his head on the floor to eat.
52:52
SPEAKER_02: He doesn't even know what he was eating, but something he was injusting, he didn't know what it was.
52:58
SPEAKER_02: Um he was um treated like that for 46 days.
53:03
SPEAKER_02: And finally, after 46 days, they realized they had nothing on him, so they released him.
53:07
SPEAKER_02: So he was so excited his brother had just gotten back that night before, and he was like talking about it and so and I was like, my God, I can't believe like a fellow nurse, like they treated him like that.
53:20
SPEAKER_02: He did nothing to deserve that.
53:21
SPEAKER_02: And once they realized okay, he's an innocent human, like they just after 46 days of torturing him, they let him go.
53:31
SPEAKER_02: So uh that was a conversation that I had that will stick with me.
53:36
SPEAKER_02: Um, and shortly crazy because two days after that, um was when the nurse in Nasser hospital got shot in the OR.
53:48
SPEAKER_02: A nurse in the operating room, a sniper came in and shot him.
53:54
SPEAKER_02: Like it was crazy.
53:55
SPEAKER_01: So I was like Were you, but you no, you weren't there for that.
53:57
SPEAKER_01: That was after you left, right?
53:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
53:59
SPEAKER_02: No, no, and that was at Nasser, yeah.
54:01
SPEAKER_02: So somebody on my Instagram um had reached out to me and they were like, Hey, um, Lana, there's a doctor by the name of Joe Smith, and his number is this, um, and he's really ill and he needs antibiotics.
54:18
SPEAKER_02: So, like, where can he get help?
54:20
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Oh, um, tell him to go to the clinic.
54:24
SPEAKER_02: Um, and they were like, Oh, can you give us that clinic's address?
54:27
SPEAKER_02: And something told me, Go, you know, go check their Instagram site.
54:32
SPEAKER_02: And and something just seemed fishy.
54:34
SPEAKER_02: They had a personal like GoFundMe, and they um followed like thousands of people, but only had like five followers.
54:42
SPEAKER_02: So I was like, okay, something is just fishy.
54:44
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, you know what, I'm not gonna reply to this person anymore.
54:48
SPEAKER_02: So then um they reached out to me like two days later and they were like, Lana, there's a pregnant lady that needs um treatment.
54:54
SPEAKER_02: Where is that clinic?
54:55
SPEAKER_02: Can you give me the address?
54:56
SPEAKER_02: That same person, yeah, that same person.
54:58
SPEAKER_02: And they were like, Can you give us that address?
55:01
SPEAKER_02: And um, I was I ignored, I didn't give them the address.
55:06
SPEAKER_02: And uh six hours later, um, there was a bombing near the clinic.
55:13
SPEAKER_02: Oh my god.
55:14
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so that was really eerie.
55:16
SPEAKER_00: I was like, I don't know if there's correlation, but that was I mean, I'm I wouldn't be surprised if there is, because like there we've heard from a lot of journalists, for like, for example, like like Mwata Zazaiza, who's now in Qatar, you know, he left he left Ghaza and is now in Qatar.
55:31
SPEAKER_00: I mean, and he while he was in Ghaza, he shared the multiple death threats that he had, the phone calls that he would get from the Israeli forces basically saying, Hey, why don't you just tell us this, or why don't you stop reporting and we'll stop bothering you and we'll stop calling you.
55:45
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I honestly would not be surprised if you were being targeted.
55:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, because you know, Intel is constantly being collected.
55:53
SPEAKER_00: That's just the way the world works.
55:55
SPEAKER_00: So people probably know who you are and your page is open, and you're very careful.
56:00
SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
56:01
SPEAKER_01: I'm glad that's you're not even doing anything political.
56:04
SPEAKER_01: You're just helping people.
56:05
SPEAKER_00: Like I just but that is political in and of itself.
56:08
SPEAKER_00: She took a stance.
56:09
SPEAKER_00: She's she's she that people do consider that political.
56:13
SPEAKER_01: She did take a political stance by saying I'm gonna go and help these she's a human, she's being, you know, okay, that's fine.
56:19
SPEAKER_02: I guess spatial area.
56:22
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
56:22
SPEAKER_02: I had people um, yeah, I actually I was so upset actually when I was in Egypt when I first got to Egypt.
56:30
SPEAKER_02: Um, my sister pointed out um when I did that Fox News and NBC4 um segment, um, my sister was like, Oh my god, did you see the comments?
56:42
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, No, what?
56:45
SPEAKER_02: And so I started looking immediately, like started Googling all these comments, you know, from like every outlook like Yahoo and this, that, and the other.
56:53
SPEAKER_02: And and um somebody had said, Oh, she should be charged for treason because she's going to help the people that celebrated 9-11.
57:02
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, What?
57:04
SPEAKER_02: That was debunked, I think, even by Fox News, when uh they like showed a footage of like people celebrating a soccer game that they were cheering about, but they were like, Oh, these people are celebrating, you know, 9-11.
57:18
SPEAKER_02: Um, and I was like, What?
57:20
SPEAKER_02: So people were like, Yeah, she should be um charged for treason, she shouldn't be allowed back in this country.
57:25
SPEAKER_02: Somebody was like, Well, she's not bulletproof.
57:28
SPEAKER_02: Um, somebody was like, she's just gonna get raped and kidnapped.
57:32
SPEAKER_02: That's her bad.
57:33
SPEAKER_02: Like, oh my God, the things that people were saying, I was like, my goodness, like it honestly for a second, I was like, should I not even go in anymore?
57:41
SPEAKER_02: Like, am I going to be a walking target when I go back to America?
57:45
SPEAKER_02: Like, this is terrifying.
57:47
SPEAKER_02: So um, that was very discouraging.
57:50
SPEAKER_02: And then I just had uh, you know, to remind myself, I had a whole list of like phrases of affirmation to like read.
57:59
SPEAKER_02: And I I just read through it and I was like, all right, all right, I'm not going to let that I know what their objective is, and I'm not going to let them get to my head.
58:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but I'll let the internet trolls troll along.
58:11
SPEAKER_00: You know, honestly, it's I that you said it perfect.
58:14
SPEAKER_00: Let the people because people have this crazy sense of power when they're behind a screen.
58:20
SPEAKER_00: Behind a keyboard.
58:21
SPEAKER_00: It's yeah, and they just they can they feel like they can write whatever they want and say whatever they want.
58:25
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, life, real life doesn't work like this.
58:28
SPEAKER_02: But um correct, but would you go to a war dump?
58:31
SPEAKER_00: Exactly, exactly.
58:32
SPEAKER_00: That's that's scary.
58:34
SPEAKER_00: That is really scary.
58:35
SPEAKER_00: Um I uh I I have I guess my last and final question for you.
58:40
SPEAKER_00: Having been there, and now that you have a great idea of what's needed and what kind of help is available, like if we can't make it there ourselves, right?
58:49
SPEAKER_00: Like some of us don't have the skill set to be able to volunteer and do that.
58:52
SPEAKER_00: How could we help?
58:53
SPEAKER_00: Like maybe your organization, you know, is is there a way that people can donate to like medical supplies?
58:59
SPEAKER_00: Or, you know, just yeah, how can we help if we're unable uh to go ourselves and we or we don't possess your skill set?
59:06
SPEAKER_00: Lots of ways.
59:07
SPEAKER_02: So A, you can lobby, you don't have to be in the political world, but you can lobby your um representative.
59:14
SPEAKER_02: Um, so you can do that, you can send your emails, you can make your phone calls, um, you can speak out on social media at work wherever.
59:23
SPEAKER_02: Um, it's a humanitarian issue.
59:25
SPEAKER_02: So I don't even consider it a political issue.
59:27
SPEAKER_02: I know you're not supposed to bring up politics and religion at work, but this is beyond politics.
59:32
SPEAKER_02: This is a humanitarian crisis.
59:34
SPEAKER_02: So bring it up at work.
59:36
SPEAKER_02: Like bring it to like a lot of people don't know families.
59:39
SPEAKER_02: I mean, there are people that don't know what's going on or why it's going on.
59:44
SPEAKER_02: Um, so you can do that.
59:46
SPEAKER_02: And then also you can reach out to these organizations, these nonprofit organizations that are putting boots on the ground, um, like Pama, um Med Global and Rahma, there's Feasure, there's um, I know UK Medic and UK, but um Project Hope, you can reach out to them.
1:00:06
SPEAKER_02: And I know like my coordinator had a whole lot on her plate.
1:00:10
SPEAKER_02: And so maybe you can even volunteer taking some of her tasks off of her plate, or even um donating medical supplies to members that are deploying to Gaza.
1:00:21
SPEAKER_02: Um, you can do that.
1:00:23
SPEAKER_02: You can see if they'd be willing to give you information as to like who's going or you know, where they live, um, so that you can donate supplies to them or donate to those charities or those um organizations that I mentioned because those are the ones that I saw there.
1:00:39
SPEAKER_02: Um so I can attest to them.
1:00:41
SPEAKER_02: No, that's that's med global got me in and brought me out safely.
1:00:46
SPEAKER_02: So definitely Med Global.
1:00:48
SPEAKER_00: So definitely we will definitely uh find the link.
1:00:50
SPEAKER_02: And Muslim aid.
1:00:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, Muslim Aid USA.
1:00:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:00:55
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
1:00:55
SPEAKER_00: So that's all that that's like actually really helpful information.
1:00:58
SPEAKER_00: We will find the uh the we'll attach the links to these organizations so that people can easily access them.
1:01:05
SPEAKER_00: Um and also I we're gonna include your Instagram handle because I love what you're doing.
1:01:10
SPEAKER_00: And for everybody that's listening and watching, uh, Lana right now has this amazing sort of diary series that she's running on her Instagram page that's been so insightful.
1:01:19
SPEAKER_00: Um, so if you set nurse underscore Lana, and we'll include that in um, you know, in the episode, I say we, I mean Lena, because Lena's one who does all of that.
1:01:29
SPEAKER_00: But um, please go and watch because she did such a wonderful job.
1:01:34
SPEAKER_00: Uh, everything that she saw on a daily basis.
1:01:36
SPEAKER_02: And even when you weren't able to have four journal entries last year.
1:01:40
SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
1:01:40
SPEAKER_00: And and I think it's I think it's amazing that you were able to do that.
1:01:43
SPEAKER_00: And she was able to do that for all of us because there's nothing more important than sharing information from on the ground and from what's happening.
1:01:52
SPEAKER_00: And I think from your perspective, especially, you know, you are you're you're like, I consider you not just a healthcare worker, you're not a humanitarian, you know, a humanitarian aid worker, you're providing a different kind of aid while you're there.
1:02:05
SPEAKER_00: So you're going in there with no biases.
1:02:07
SPEAKER_00: And even as a healthcare provider, you took an oath that you'll help whomever, whenever, if somebody needs help.
1:02:13
SPEAKER_00: So if you're looking for an unbiased take on what's going on in Gaza right now, Lana's page is going to be an excellent take on that.
1:02:20
SPEAKER_00: It's super personal.
1:02:22
SPEAKER_00: It's all her own words, all her own pictures.
1:02:24
SPEAKER_00: So please go follow.
1:02:26
SPEAKER_02: Can I explain why?
1:02:27
SPEAKER_02: Can I explain why it's super personal?
1:02:29
SPEAKER_02: So I didn't even think about journaling at all.
1:02:32
SPEAKER_02: But I, when I was flying over there and I was, you know, kind of scared and had the jitters.
1:02:39
SPEAKER_02: Um, I was like, you know what?
1:02:40
SPEAKER_02: I opened up a note.
1:02:42
SPEAKER_02: I created a note and shared it with my son.
1:02:44
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I just want to tell him how I'm feeling.
1:02:46
SPEAKER_02: And then every day I was like, you know what?
1:02:48
SPEAKER_02: This is probably a good way to like timestamp what's going on, where I'm at, in case I don't have internet or whatever.
1:02:55
SPEAKER_02: Or whenever I do get reception, then he can see my note.
1:02:58
SPEAKER_02: I can update it like a diary.
1:03:00
SPEAKER_02: So that way, if God forbid I don't make it back, then he can tell my stories.
1:03:04
SPEAKER_00: So that's what prompted me to do that.
1:03:06
SPEAKER_00: Just so he can relay my stories if I couldn't.
1:03:09
SPEAKER_00: No, and I think I think that's amazing.
1:03:11
SPEAKER_00: And and what a like what a sad thought to to think of.
1:03:14
SPEAKER_00: But I'm I'm really happy for us.
1:03:16
SPEAKER_00: Well, one, welcome home.
1:03:19
SPEAKER_00: And two, thank you for doing what you did.
1:03:22
SPEAKER_00: Because so many of us feel so uh helpless.
1:03:26
SPEAKER_00: Uh and the one thing that we can do is like like Lena and I have a platform, and we feel like the least that we can do is share these stories, right?
1:03:34
SPEAKER_00: Like like talk about people.
1:03:37
SPEAKER_00: Give them, give these people like real, like let the world know that the people are suffering, like people are suffering majorly.
1:03:43
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:03:44
SPEAKER_01: But um, but yeah, and there are ways to help and letting people know that there are ways to help.
1:03:48
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
1:03:49
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
1:03:50
SPEAKER_02: So don't ever feel like you're not doing anything because you really are actually.
1:03:54
SPEAKER_02: This is informing people of what's going on, you know what I mean?
1:03:58
SPEAKER_02: So that's that's a big step right there.
1:04:01
SPEAKER_02: Because once people start to do their own research and look into it, is when they realize, you know, the truth behind the atrocities.
1:04:08
SPEAKER_02: And and then that makes them spread the word and then it's a domino effect.
1:04:13
SPEAKER_02: That's why I think we're at nearly the last statistic I saw was like nearly 76% of the world stands with Gaza right now.
1:04:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:04:23
SPEAKER_02: That's a crazy statistic, like crazy high statistics.
1:04:26
SPEAKER_00: No, but it's it's amazing.
1:04:27
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I just um I just want us to close with like just uh thank you.
1:04:32
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for thank you so much.
1:04:34
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, thank you for doing what you did.
1:04:35
SPEAKER_00: That was phenomenal.
1:04:36
SPEAKER_00: You're you're like an awesome human.
1:04:38
SPEAKER_00: Two, thank you for coming on here and being so honest and raw and speaking with us.
1:04:42
SPEAKER_00: Um and thank you for everything that you can still that you still continue to do in advocating for the people of Gaza and for the people of Palestine in general, right?
1:04:52
SPEAKER_00: Um you should be so proud of yourself.
1:04:55
SPEAKER_00: And I know you're kind of scared, but he should be so proud of you.
1:04:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, definitely.
1:04:59
SPEAKER_02: I'm sure he is.
1:05:00
SPEAKER_02: I'm sure he is.
1:05:00
SPEAKER_02: I can't stop and I won't stop.
1:05:03
SPEAKER_02: I love that.
1:05:04
SPEAKER_02: I love that.
1:05:05
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
1:05:07
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, of course.
1:05:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thank you guys for having me.