Iranian Red Crescent Helps Afghan Families
Posted on Fri, 16 Nov 2001 13:29:36 GMT
disasterrelief.org
Written by Christina Ward, Staff Writer, DisasterRelief.org, with reports from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Children make up two-thirds of the 6,000 people living at Makaki camp, a refuge for Afghan families fleeing war, hunger and drought in their home country. Located on the Iran-Afghanistan border near the Iranian city of Zabol, the bare-bones camp — one of many in the region — is made up of rows upon rows of canvas tents, each one full of people and their belongings. Other than one or two blankets per person, the simple tents provide the only protection for Afghan children and their parents against frigid winter nights.
The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) is in charge of Makaki camp, providing food, water and basic health care to the displaced families. The camp is at its maximum capacity, but still more parents arrive each day with hungry, dehydrated children in tow. Iranian Red Crescent volunteers are working nonstop to supply each person with their essential needs.
Children often arrive at the camp malnourished and dehydrated.
Malnourishment is just one of the many problems children suffer as they arrive at a camp like Makaki. Even after they receive food and water from IRCS workers, many come down with respiratory infections, fever, dermatological diseases and diarrhea.
"We treat between 90 and 200 patients a day," said Behrooz Chegeni, a doctor who is volunteering for the IRCS camp. "The majority are children, women and young people." When not volunteering for the Red Crescent, Dr. Chegeni is employed by Iran's Ministry of Health in the city of Isfahan, 746 miles (1,200 kilometers) away.
Still, health conditions are good, considering the circumstances. Each family is welcome to the camp's clean water supply, which is piped in from Iran's public water system. In addition, explained Mohamed Ali Gandjali, director of IRCS in Zabol, "Each family receives a monthly food ration composed of rice, canned beans, tea, sugar and salt. This is complemented by cooking oil every three days, and bread is distributed on a daily basis."
Abdel Majid Hassan Husseini moved to the camp in mid-October with his 14 children.
The hundreds of Afghan children spend their days wandering the camp, running up and down the "alleys" between tents. Many children are also in charge of getting clean water for their families. Two or three times a day, they fill water containers at one of the three water distribution points, and bring the water back to their parents for cooking and cleaning.
"We get good food and clean water, and are very grateful to the Iranian Red Crescent for this," said Abdel Majid Hassan Husseini, a 55-year-old Afghan man living at the camp. Abdel Majid arrived about a month ago with his 14 children from his home province of Farah, 124 miles (200 kilometers) north in Afghanistan. He still wears his traditional clothing, although they are showing signs of wear and tear from his long journey.
Abdel Majid and his large family now live in a 23-square-foot (7-square-meter) tent. Although they are doing well, they are fearful of the rapidly descending winter. "With the cold weather, we will also need warm clothes, heating utilities and hats," he said. Already, the nights are bitterly cold, with a severe "black wind" — the strong sand wind common to that desert region — only making conditions worse.
Iranian Red Crescent volunteer Dr. Behrooz Chegeni (center) stands with members of his medical team at the camp.
The IRCS is working to keep ample medical facilities running for the camp's residents. Currently, there are three tents: for the consulting room, pharmacy and vaccination center. Along with Dr. Chegani, the Iranian medical team includes a nurse, a pharmacist assistant and six "Berhvarz," or trained health personnel. Other humanitarian aid organizations are on the way to provide additional support, which will include further medical facilities and trained personnel. Their arrival is eagerly awaited, as more families show up at the camp each day, the nights get colder, and needs rapidly increase.
Meanwhile, IRCS volunteers are also trucking food and other relief goods to the area of Herat, Afghanistan, where 300,000 displaced people are reportedly living at six camps. Medical, nutritional and sanitation needs there are said to be critical. |
