Yesterday I woke up with the news that only an upside down world would produce. Today, after processing the information and reading extensively about what happened I still cannot believe it. A NATO operation lead by the USA bombed a MSF hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killing 13 MSF staff and 7 patients including 3 children. Was that real? How could that happen? I was shocked at the beginning and furious when the information was confirmed. How could the self-called most powerful country bombed a hospital (yes, a hospital) run by humanitarian organization which has provided the GPS coordinates well in advance to avoid this situation. How can they have so little shame to call it a “collateral damage”?
Those are question for which I don’t expect an answer and, honestly, I don’t care too much about that. I care about my colleagues who died and their families who have lost a piece of their hearts. I care about my colleagues who were lucky enough to survive and who will live the rest of their lives looking for answers for questions like the ones I asked myself. I care about the people from Kunduz who will not have access to medical care because someone thought that a “collateral damage” is a good price to pay to carry on their own and endless war against terrorism. I care because it seems like the motto “the end justifies the means” is becoming the perfect excuse to forget about the treaties and conventions signed not a long time ago that should protect, among many other things, the medical facilities from being attacked.
Yes, this is the nonsense of this world. A nonsense in which the air forces of a country lead by a Nobel Peace Price bombed a hospital managed by a humanitarian organization. A world in which the foundations of the humanitarianism have shaken with the fall of the bombs that destroyed the hospital and took the lives of innocent people who were trying to make this world more human.
Today we are down because we have lost too many colleagues and lives for no reason. But I am a positive person, and tomorrow we will go back to our work prouder than ever, remembering our colleagues and working harder with the same goal as always: save lives and reducing the suffering of the most vulnerable people.
To my colleagues and the people who lost their lives in Kunduz. Rest in peace.
