Restoring smiles – Witness Image

Restoring smiles

by Luca Catalano Gonzaga

Part of A shameless life

These portraits have been taken by Luca Catalano Gonzaga in Nassiriya (Iraq); they mainly depict women and children, victims of facial and body deformities due to burns caused by domestic accidents or unexploded ordnance, placed on a waiting list to be submitted to delicate plastic surgery interventions, by NGO Emergenza Sorrisi. For ten days, the photographer’s lens has captured moments of the preoperative screening.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Manar, 9 years old. Hot oil burn, occurred in her own house.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Hayday, 3 years old. Boiling water burn while he was in the kitchen, in his own house.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Sejad, 5 years old. Hot oil burn occurred while the child was in the kitchen with his mother.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Mohamed, 10 years old. Boiling water burn while he was in the kitchen, in his own house.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Fatma, 6 years old. Burn occurred when the child was 3 years old, while she was playing next to a fire for cooking, outside her house. She stopped school.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Ahmed, 10 years old. Burn caused by the fire from his father's car due to an attack. His older brother managed to escape, but Ahmed was stuck inside the car.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Jasmen, 15 years old, should undergo two surgery to regain the use of the hand and of the neck. Due to a terrible domestic accident, which led to the death of her daughter, Jasmen has suffered severe burns. She stopped school and suffers from anorexia.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Hussein, 15 years old. Burned due to an unexploded land-mine in the city. He lost his right eye due to the accident.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Habobbi Hospital in Nāṣiriya (Iraq). Shihad Adnan Haly, 25 years old. Burn caused by the explosion of a gas cylinder oven, while she was in the kitchen, in her own house.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Axilla Marzal, 27 years old. Burn caused by the explosion of a gas cylinder oven, while she was in the kitchen, in her own house. Axilla hopes to be operated on soon, as she cannot cook any more : she cannot move her hands because of the burns. Often women who have this type of accident are abandoned by their husbands as they cannot perform domestic chores such as cooking, sewing, take care of the children and clean the house.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Mustafa Ahmed Hamza, 24 years old. Burn due to gas explosion as he was hanging out on the street with some friends.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Ali Hater, 23 years old. Burn due to boiling water while he was in the kitchen, in his own house.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Ala Shkov Assan and his daughter that will undergo surgery to lip.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Mother and her daughter that will undergo surgery to lip.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Yaken Mossa Kadom and her daughter who will undergo surgery to remove the angioma.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Mother and her daughter that will undergo surgery to lip.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Zineb Jasim Mohamed and her daughter who will undergo surgery to lip. They were both born with a malformation of the lip.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Ruqia Zamel Shihed and her daughter who will undergo surgery to lip.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Benin, here with her mother, is two years old and will undergo surgery to lip and palate.

Al Habobbi Hospital, Nāṣiriya, Iraq 2016. Assra Kasim Chiad, 38 years old. Burn caused by the explosion of a gas cylinder oven while she was in the kitchen, in her own house.

Related news

The story “Iraq: restoring smiles” by Luca Catalano Gonzaga, published on Spiegel online

The project “A shameless life” by Luca Catalano Gonzaga on Days Japan magazine

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