Continued prayers for Gaza and …

Words do not capture the heartache I feel for all the upheaval and horrors we are experiencing in the US and the world. PAUSE for SILENCE … I cope by doing what I can to support the positive efforts I see on our planet.

Most recently I helped Dr. Sami Mahmoud Magharie write up his story about his life and work in Gaza. It was published in Pulse--voices from the heart of medicine: pulsevoices.org. If you aren’t familiar with Pulse, please check it out. When you sign up you will receive a gift of story or a poem in your inbox weekly. It’s free.

Dr. Sami’s story. https://pulsevoices.org/stories/report-from-gaza-seeing-patients-among-the-bombs/

In addition, I have been helping Dr. Salam Khashan, a family medicine physician trained in Gaza, write up one year of outcomes for the Family Doctor Initiative (FDI). We told her story in November in the Family Medicine Journal. Her efforts created a convenient and whole-person, whole-family approach to health care in the refugee camp where she was living in the middle of Gaza. It has been open since January 2024. A year of data showed that the FDI conducted nearly 40,000 patient encounters across three tent sites. Most visits addressed acute concerns (79%), while 14% focused on chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. Additional services included 495 breastfeeding and nutrition counseling visits and 8,225 mental health consultations. The FDI is staffed by Gaza trained health professionals and engages the community around the tents to aid with security. Their funds are dwindling. Please consider supporting the FDI.

And finally, the final lines from a Mahmoud Darwish poem:

The poem is always incomplete, the butterflies make it whole.

No advice in love. It’s experience.

No advice in poetry. It’s talent.

And last but not least, Salaam.