Ugly faces

Violence comes with a thousand ugly faces.

It is the face of a young man, clinching his teeth, trying to not scream out loud, because of the pain driving him over the edge of consciousness, after a bullet has torn his chest apart.

It is the face of a baby, blown up like a balloon, double its size, after being washed ashore. 

It is the face of a young woman who, with tears in her eyes, desperately asks you not to leave her behind, in an unofficial prison, she is being kept, without having committed any crime. 

It is the face of a little boy, who from one moment to the other, finds himself surrounded by his dead mother, leaving him behind as orphan, delivering him to the mercy, of a bunch of strangers. 

It is this face, looking at you, while holding an AK-47 pointed in your direction, wearing a mask, asking you in broken English, to get off the car.

It is the patient, a young man, at the beginning of his adult life, dying of a curable disease, because you did not manage to get him to a hospital in time. 

It is the noise at night, of explosions and gunshots, always remembering you, that somewhere, there is another face to add, to an army of ugliness.

– Mission experiences