Talk with an Emergency Doctor in the Humanitarian Field: Awareness is Key
Aniek Crombach is a 34 years old emergency physician working in humanitarian aid. She talked to us about her path towards this field and the need to talk about the work to help the public understand it.
She talks with passion and determination. She denounces and regrets and aims for better. And while she talks about all those extraordinary things she does, and more importantly, why she does them, one can not help but be struck by how truly humble Aniek is.
“I’ve always had this interest in humanitarian work, and Doctors Without Borders, the work they do. Try to share what we have in the world, to equally divide the resources of the medical profession” she reflects when asked about why and how. Equality was always something important to her. To treat in a respectful and equal way.
South Africa and the confirmation of her path
Aniek Crombach is a 34 years old emergency physician from the Netherlands, working in humanitarian aid. After finishing her medical school in Maastricht, with some internships abroad, she went for her specialization in emergency medicine in South Africa.
“It really hits you, the differences in the world. It’s different to read it in the newspaper and to be there and realize it’s really how things are, how unfair the world is”
She worked in the township of Khayelitsha, in Cape Town, the second biggest after Soweto. “Quite dangerous, a lot of criminality there, and with that comes a lot of trauma-related injuries” she explains.
“I learned a lot over there, it was not easy. And it really hits you, the differences in the world, it really gives you a slap in the face. It’s different to read it in the newspaper and to be there and realize it’s really how things are, how unfair the world is” she remembers.
She still thinks about her first day there. Her supervisor told her “remember, Aniek, it’s a war zone”: “I was like, what does he mean, this is probably a joke for the newbie. And then a week later, I talked to him again and I was like yeeeah, I get you now”.
While she was always interested in working in humanitarian aid, South Africa was the trip that confirmed it and became the first step towards a new life.
“It changed my life in the way that it made me certain about the work I wanted to do, that I wanted to explore this kind of field, and I can’t really go back now, which I’m happy with, but it’s not always easy, because you see what’s really going on”.
The specialization was hard, it had some hiccups. Some personal problems, because of all of it, of the questions about life and what she wanted to do, where she wanted to go. To this day, being able to finish it still remains one of her biggest accomplishments.
“And then the very fact that I just kept going. Going to South Africa by myself was already an accomplishment at the time. And then I went to Syria, and then to the next mission. It’s something that I don’t realize that I should actually be proud of. It wasn’t easy but I went through it, I did it”.
“For me, right now, I’ve seen so much that I can’t go back to my normal life here, and pretend that that stuff is not happening in the world. That’s a big part of the reason I still do this, because I’m aware of how things really work, and I can’t do nothing”, Aniek reflects when asked whether seeing “it” makes her want to do it more or to step back.
From the safety of a system to the resourcefulness of another
The condition in which she, and all of her colleagues over there, have to work, is nothing like what you can find in the Western world.
“I was thinking I would teach them and show them, and then I got there and realized, I’m not going to teach them anything, they are going to teach me everything!”
“When you go from a “luxurious” country like we have, where we have all of the means that we want, all the help, where you can ask other colleagues, where you have so much back-up, so many options. Going to a resource-poor setting, where your supervisor says, you’re going to have to find the stuff yourself, it’s very different. You have to deal with what you’ve got, make it work, be creative. I was very very impressed with my colleagues there, and how they function”.
She denounces the way of thinking of western countries, where we always think we can do better than others, where we think our system is best.
“I was the same and went there thinking I would teach them and show them, and when I got there and realized, I’m not going to teach them anything, they are going to teach me everything! How could I even think this?! I felt so bad, colonialism at its best” she says, shaking her head.
From South Africa and her last training days, Aniek stepped into the humanitarian aid scene, and never looked back.
From Sea Rescue to the Middle-East: it leaves its marks
She worked with Sea Watch, a German non-governmental organization that operates in the Mediterranean sea. Then, with another small german NGO providing health care in a resource-poor environment, Aniek went for her first mission in the Middle-East.
From there she joined Doctors Without Borders in the Middle-East as well. And now she’s back with the search and rescue.
“I have a special heart for the search and rescue in the Mediterranean. It feels different. It’s quite tense. You literally pull someone out of the water and help them. And it has become such a political game now, and there’s not much action for it, not many people helping. For that reason, it’s something that I feel even more strongly about, because it’s not getting the attention it needs, Europe it’s not reacting the way it should”.
Every mission was hard, though, and rewarding. Some stayed with her more than others. She was in Syria when Turkey invaded, in the war zone, not even 20km from the border.
“To be in an active war area is insane. I saw the civilian casualties going into the hospitals. It’s something that definitely left its marks on me. I found it difficult, especially when I was evacuated because of safety issues. Leaving colleagues behind, friends’’.
She was in Iraq, in Syria. “It’s difficult to see how the country is still corrupted, how the doctors want to do a lot there, how knowledgeable they are, but how they just don’t get the support from the government they need. The project there was very intense because of the workload and because of the situation”.
The bubble of humanitarian aid: communication is key
Already as a physician, you have to get used to things. You have to forget somehow. “We are aware of it but it’s not a big part of our curriculum to be trained to realize how heavy the stuff you are dealing with is” notes Aniek. “It took me 7 years of medical school and 4 years of training to realize, oh, my profession is actually really difficult”.
“The more you see things, the more you get used to them. Like blood in medical school. It’s good because it makes it easier to deal with, but it’s also not so good, because you don’t want to find it normal that someone gets shot for example”.
“It’s important to try and explain things so that everyone understands what you do, and why you do it and what is actually going on”
And going further into the humanitarian field, you kind of enter a sort of bubble. You are part of a microcosm.
“You find people that have the same motivation as you, do the same work, so I can very much relate to my colleagues. It’s also what I like about the work, you are all there for the same goal. Very few people work there because of the money, because you don’t get a lot of it, you do it for the cause”.
But there’s a downside of becoming used to things.“For a majority of the population, the things you are getting used to are not normal, and people don’t understand. And it’s important to try and explain things so that everyone understands what you do, and why you do it and what is actually going on. But it’s difficult, because I don’t always understand what people don’t understand, and forget sometimes to explain things easier. That’s something that I’m thinking about now that I’m back, how can I change this, make it more understandable. One way for it is the Instagram account that I’ve started, and I’ve already got some good feedback”.
Coming back from a mission feels good, and bad. To her, the Netherlands can feel like a bubble. She likes seeing her friends, winding down, spending time with the family. It’s a safe haven that she feels privileged to have. “Maybe that’s also the reason why I feel comfortable with these kinds of things, because I know that the Netherlands will be there, I can come back, I’m very lucky.”
But after a while, she has to leave again, “because I can’t stand this”. She’s home now, ready to work and help out in the hospitals there. But next year, “I will probably go on another mission”.
