Pictures: Tess Burrows. MSF Doctors Without Borders.
As we take in the harrowing news stories from the war in Gaza, it’s almost impossible to imagine the daily trauma and struggles the people on the ground are facing. But for Kiwi clinical psychologist Siobhan Lockie, the devastating impacts of the conflict are all too familiar.
Siobhan spent 10 months working with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) – which translates to Doctors Without Borders – in the West Bank, working alongside other specialist mental health professionals to provide Palestinian patients with support to help them negotiate their experiences of violence, loss, displacement and poverty.
“The people and their stories had a big impact on me,” reveals Siobhan, 35. “My very first job after I arrived in the West Bank in May 2023 was working with a group of young boys, whose classmate had been shot by while walking home from school. The stories of the women – primarily mothers – expressing their grief and trauma also stood out to me.”
When she applied for a secondment with MSF – which provides medical humanitarian assistance to people in crisis situations around the world – Siobhan had been working for four and a half years as a clinical psychologist in her home city of Christchurch. Part of that work included supporting victims and families of the terror attack on 15 March 2019.
“Working with members of our Muslim community in Christchurch taught me so much about what strength, humility and resilience looks like,” she says. “It’s something I experienced again with the people in Palestine.”
Siobhan explains that when medical professionals apply to join MSF, they don’t choose the location they will be sent to.
“MSF matches your skills and experience with the place they think you would fit best. When I was first offered the post in Palestine, I was a little daunted about working in such a complicated place. But I was excited to learn more and knew I had some gifts to share. I was ready for the challenge.”
Siobhan divides her time in the war-torn region into two distinct periods. The first is before 7 October 2023, when Hamas launched a series of attacks on Israel. The second, after, when Israel retaliated with frightening force. By this time, its devastating war on Gaza had already claimed more than 37,000 lives.
The West Bank is the largest Palestinian territory. Siobhan lived in one of the region’s biggest cities, Nablus, in a house with some of her MSF colleagues.
“I was in awe of the resilience and strength of my Palestinian colleagues. They were specialist clinicians working tirelessly to support their communities, despite their own trauma and grief,” says Siobhan. “Many of them had to negotiate dangerous roads just to get to work each day.”
Life in the West Bank was already difficult, with military incursions in cities and refugee camps making everyday life a struggle. Conditions got even worse after the events of 7 October, Siobhan tells.
“Military operations started occurring weekly in every city in the West Bank. Checkpoints became harder to navigate and there were limited ways to exit the cities. The disruption to everyday life was immense, with poverty increasing, and people’s sense of threat and insecurity through the roof.”
Siobhan says the calls she made each day to her long-time partner, Filip Toncic, back in New Zealand helped, especially during tough days.
“If the roles were reversed, I don’t think I would have been as cool, calm and supportive as Filip,” she admits. “He is Croatian but was born in Yugoslavia, so understands what war is like.”
Despite the challenges, Siobhan found inspiration in her work and the human stories she encountered. She recalls working with one young man who had lost his home in the war. He was struggling with distress and anger.
“I taught him some breathing exercises – such a simple thing, but they helped him a lot. He then taught the exercises to his children, who in turn taught other children in the refugee camp. It created a ripple effect of resilience.”
Siobhan and the MSF team worked with a group of men from Gaza who had been working in Israel, but almost overnight became refugees in the West Bank as a result of the war. “They were desperate to get back to their families living under the bombs in Gaza. Many had already lost loved ones and their homes there.”
As Siobhan’s time in the West Bank came to an end, leaving her colleagues behind was difficult, she admits.
“It was hard knowing I was returning to safety and freedom, and my friends’ reality would stay the same,” she says. “There is no difference at all between us as human beings apart from our circumstances.”
Siobhan says being part of MSF’s humanitarian efforts to help fellow human beings was a “privilege” and she would like to return one day.
“People there are living with chronic trauma and unfortunately will probably carry those wounds for the rest of their lives. People will always need support and I’d definitely like to go back one day.”
To learn more about MSF Doctors Without Borders, visit msf.org.
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