As part of the UniCare (UOSSM) Board’s visit to Syria, Dr. Anas Al-Kassem, Board Member of UOSSM Canada, conducted a series of field visits and high-level engagements focused on strengthening healthcare delivery and expanding sustainable services across the country.

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Community Needs Assessment in Darayya

The visit began with a comprehensive needs assessment in Darayya, aimed at evaluating the feasibility of establishing a new healthcare facility to serve the local population. This assessment focused on gaps in access to care, infrastructure requirements, and priority health services—laying the groundwork for future healthcare development in the area.

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On September 27, 2025, UOSSM Canada hosted an urgent fundraising event in solidarity with the people of Gaza. With hospitals collapsing, food disappearing, and medical supplies running out, Gaza is facing a famine-level crisis. Tens of thousands of children are suffering from acute malnutrition, and we must act.

This emergency event was organized to raise life-saving funds for the Malnutrition Department at Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital in Gaza, the only pediatric center of its kind still operating. Donations will directly support nutrition programs, medical supplies, and essential treatment for children in critical need.

Attendees heard powerful testimonies and urgent calls to action from humanitarian leaders who have witnessed the crisis firsthand, including:

• Dr. Anas Al-Kassem
• Dr. Aliya Khan

In solidarity with the families of Gaza, only light refreshments were served during the event. The focus was on standing together as a community to bring hope, medical relief, and nutrition to Gaza’s children.

Hello, everybody. My name is Dr. Aliya Khan, and I am aboard member of the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations. We providerelief in war zones. I personally have traveled to the West Bank, and I haveseen the brutal occupation that the Palestinian people have been suffering overthe past 75 years. Over the past 21 months, we have witnessed Israel's war ofextermination with mass slaughter of the Palestinian people, as well as thebombing and complete destruction of all the universities, schools, mosques,churches, and hospitals in Gaza. All the water wells, including the Canadawell, and all sanitation facilities have been destroyed. All olive groves,farmland, and farm animals have been completely destroyed. Healthcare workersand journalists have been specifically targeted, tortured, and murdered..

In 2016, I found myself deep in rural Uganda once again, ina vibrant yet underserved community called Kamengo. I was introduced to thiscommunity by a good friend, Jimmy Sebulime, who was originally from there. Wewere there on a medical mission, running a primary care clinic. Kamengo, likemany rural communities in Uganda, is a place of resilience. The people live inmodest homes surrounded by lush greenery, their lives intertwined with the ebband flow of the seasons. Yet, beneath this beautiful landscape lies a harshreality—limited access to healthcare, particularly for women and children, andthe ever-present challenges that come with that scarcity.

As a trauma surgeon, I have had the privilege of working inmany challenging environments, but nothing could have prepared me for theheart-wrenching experience of volunteering in Gaza. Over the course of nearlytwo weeks, I worked alongside a dedicated team of Canadian and Americandoctors, coordinated by the World Health Organization and Rahma Worldwide, toaddress the overwhelming humanitarian crisis that has gripped this region.