On
Monday September 13, a new year started in the schools of Beslan.
The September tragedy, when some 1250 schoolchildren, teachers
and parents were taken hostage by armed men in masks, made this
small provincial town in the republic of Northern Ossetia known
throughout the world. 338 people were killed during the siege.
90 people have not been identified and 75 may still be unaccounted
for. Local doctors say that some 12,000 people, direct or indirect
victims of the tragedy, will need psychological support in future.
The school year in Beslan finally started on September 13, two
weeks later than in the rest of Russia. The schools in the town
were equipped to accept students from School Number 1 which
stands in ruins after the siege there at the beginning of the
month. Following doctor’s recommendations the pupils who
survived the siege will start their studies later – some
need to finish their treatment in hospitals, and all need to
restore their mental health. 500 children and their parents
are leaving for resorts on the Black sea next week where they
will recover.
There is no doubt that psychological support in Beslan will
be in demand for a long time. “many years will pass before
these children stop suffering from physical and mental pain”
foresees Kazbek Berdyaevm chief surgeon of Beslan hospital.
According to Vyacheslav Kordinov, Chief Doctor of Beslan Central
Hospital, the number of people in need of psychological support
is ten times the number of hostages - including all those who
witnessed the tragedy outside the school and who will long suffer
from the loss of close friends and relatives.
“Our life has changed,” says Larissa Tomaev, 35,
a medical nurse from the local hospital, and mother of three
children, who spent two and a half days with her children, Aslan,11,
and Kristina,9, in the school gym during the siege.
“Our house used to be full of life, joy and laughter,”
she says, “but now it has become so quiet. Kristina hardly
speaks. There seems to be no interest in life. Thoughts keep
going back to the horrors we lived through sitting in the school
gym.”
Six days after they were released, an x-ray test showed that
Larisa has shrapnel in her body and now needs an operation.
“I am not afraid of physical pain,” says Larissa.
“I do not feel it. I am afraid that our life will never
become what it used to be.”
Her son Aslan looks cheerful. Some boys of his age feel like
heroes after the horrible events. He volunteers to tell about
the plans he and his friend developed while sitting in the gym.
“The first thing we wanted to do when we were released
– to find mugs… big mugs, like the ones men use
for beer… and drink cold water out of them. As much as
we could. Then we would go to a lake and swim as long as we
wish. And then to come home and stand under a cold shower, ”
he says.
Larissa knows that he remembers more. She sees it when he stops
still in the middle of a game and stares into space asking one
and the same question “Why did they do it to her?!”
Aslan was sitting only three meters behind one woman when a
bullet shot through her head and smashed it apart. The same
picture wakes him up at night.
About 40 Red Cross workers and volunteers from North Ossetia
were near the school during the tragedy. They were providing
food, water and psychological comfort first to the relatives,
and later the hostages as they escaped the school. Now the telephone
lines in the Red Cross office in Vladikavkaz are busy: relatives,
doctors, ordinary citizens, colleagues from around the world
and volunteers call.
“A lot of humanitarian aid is coming from Russia and from
abroad” says Irina Kusova, head of the RRC branch in Northern
Ossetia. “We must receive it and ensure its proper distribution.
This requires scrupulous work as we do not want anybody to be
forgotten” she said.
Together with the International Federation, the Russian Red
Cross is developing a plan of action for long-term psychological
support for the victims of Beslan tragedy for the coming year.
This work will be supported by the funds raised through the
International Federation Emergency Appeal launched shortly after
the tragedy. Red Cross Societies from Great Britain, Denmark,
Iceland, Ireland and Japan have already contributed to this
appeal. A Danish Red Cross delegate will be sent to help the
local Red Cross implement this programme. The Russian Red Cross
has raised funds equivalent to three million dollars to provide
direct cash support for the victim’s families.
While in the school, the hostages were told by their captors
that none from the outside world cares about them or their fate.
“It was a dreadful feeling of being forgotten by all in
your country, not to mention the world,” said Valentina
Usonova, 51, a week after she was released from the school.
The Federation delegation in Moscow has been approached by schools
in Netherlands and America offering to send postcards to the
affected children, their family and teachers, and let people
of Beslan know the world was, and is, thinking of them.
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School
N1 in Beslan, Republic of Northern Ossetia in Russia,
was the biggest in the town founded in 1889. A memorial
will be built on its site in memory of the victims of
the tragedy in September 2004 (p11994)
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Marina
was among the hostages together with her two daughters
and her mother. Her mother perished during the siege.
The elder daughter is in hospital. Marina keeps coming
to the sight with her younger daughter. The girl is pleading
“Mummy, let us go away… they will start shooting
again!” (p11995)
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Doctor
Vyacheslav Kordinov, head of the local Red Cross branch,
welcomes Walter Papenhagen, who arrived with medical supplies
from the German Red Cross. “Thanks to the help we
have received this week, our immediate needs are covered,”
He said. “However, treatment and psychological support
for victims will last a long time.“ (p11996)
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Larisa
with her children, Kristina (9), David (1) and Aslan (11),scrutinizing
the ex-ray film that Larisa has just brought from a hospital.
Six days after the tragedy she discovered that a shrapnel
is sitting inside her body under her arm and she needs
an operation. Larisa works as a nurse in the local hospital.
On September 1-3 together with her two elder children
she was taken hostage in the school (p12000)
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Goods
donated to the Russian Red Cross were flown in on government
planes. The RRC has also called for blood and money to
help the Beslan victims in the long term (p12004)
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