Dr. Nina Naidu was part of the Lebanon Mission 2 team that traveled and served in Saida over seven days earlier this month. This team of three plastic surgeons and one anesthesiologist provided care to over 80 Syrian and Palestinian refugees, including almost 40 surgeries on children who had been directly injured by bomb blasts or other war-related injuries, or was due to their subsequent displacement and poor living conditions.
According to Dr. Naidu, “I had always wanted to do relief work, [but] it took me many years to be able to make the mental and physical commitment to go on a mission.” Grateful for the experience, Dr. Naidu ultimately felt there were many reasons that drove her to complete this mission, including “a desire to give back, a feeling of helplessness when reading the news every morning, and simply a need to fulfill some inner calling.” While in Lebanon, she was “struck by how stoic our young patients and their parents were; after having witnessed so much trauma in their short lives, undergoing elective surgery under controlled conditions must have seemed comparatively easy.” While relief work was ultimately a very personal one for her, Dr. Naidu felt her life had “certainly been changed by [her] experience.” It was her greatest hope that the team was able to make the lives of at least a few of their patients a little bit easier.