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Iranian
Red Crescent deploys psychosocial support teams to help earthquake
victims in Bam 13 January 2004 Some 15,000 people, traumatized by the effects of the earthquake that devastated the city of Bam on December 26, will receive special assistance from the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS). Next week, the IRCS will deploy about 75 volunteers to implement a psychological support programme over the next six months, formalizing the current work being done with earthquake victims. Chosen from the pool of 2,000 people trained by the IRCS in psychosocial support, 11 teams will be set up. Each will include a psychologist, a nurse, a relief expert and educators, and will work in a district of Bam. In each district, two large tents will be erected where mothers and children, in particular, will be able to gather, participate in recreational and social activities and start up income generation activities. The teams will also help the 1,850 unaccompanied children currently being assisted as activities to trace their families continue. The programme also includes using local radio to give the population basic guidelines and advice on how to cope with trauma, as well as training local people to carry on psychological support in the long term. With dozens of aftershocks continuing, thousands of people are still living in fear, sheltering in tents set up next to their houses. “During the first days after the earthquake people concentrate on survival, on trying to find their relatives, to get shelter, food, water and to cover their basic needs. But it is also very important for children and their families to have the possibility to talk about their feelings and share their problems, to see that there are others in the same situation as they are,” said Aghdase Kafi, an IRCS psychologist, who is part of the psychosocial support team. According to the Iranian Ministry of Health, an estimated 25,000 people will need special psychological support to overcome the trauma caused by the earthquake and its tragic consequences. On December 27, the day following the earthquake, the IRCS sent in emergency psychosocial support teams to assess the situation and provide initial support to earthquake victims. Within the first week after the disaster, 85 IRCS volunteers were providing ad hoc counselling, going from tent to tent. The IRCS has many years’ experience in providing psychosocial support to victims of natural disasters. “The aim of the programme is to bring people together to share problems, increase awareness regarding psychological issues, restore coping mechanisms and to reintegrate people in the community,” noted Rikke Gormsen, the Federation’s psychosocial regional delegate in Bam. The International Federation is supporting the IRCS psychosocial support programme through an appeal launched on 8 January for 51.9 million Swiss francs, and through the deployment of a psychosocial support team sent by the Danish and the Icelandic Red Cross Societies. For further information, or to set up interviews, please contact: In Bam: German Red Cross Fredrik Barkenhammar Tel: + 881 631 449 2 17 Finnish Red Cross Lasse Kylanpaa Tel: + 870 762 565 777 Spanish Red Cross Cristina Estrada Tel: + 882162 111 55 77 In Geneva: Marie-Françoise Borel, Press Officer Tel: + 41 22 730 43 46 / + 41 79 217 33 45 Duty phone: Tel: + 41 79 416 38 81 e The Geneva-based International Federation promotes the humanitarian activities of 181 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies among vulnerable people. By coordinating international disaster relief and encouraging development support, it seeks to prevent and alleviate human suffering. The Federation, National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross together, constitute the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. © International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies |
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