Reconstructing lives was written in an attempt to establish a more holistic approach to rehabilitation of war-injured, one that can adjust to the patients’ long-term needs.
Characterised with this aim, the book is not only a description of the daily realities of patients during and after rehabilitation, but it seeks to develop a new way to perceive them, respect them and involve them in the health care.
The book follows Syrian and Iraqi war-injured civilians in their journey to recovery. Their journey starts with the injury, takes them to the MSF (Doctors Without Borders)-run hospital in Jordan where they undergo treatments, and ends with their return home. Throughout this journey victims of war creatively use internal and external resources to reconstruct their new selves.