Sun
rises over the dusty houses on the outskirts of Zahedan, near
the Iranian-Afghan border, casting a yellow light on the trucks
that wait in line.
In recent months, much of the humanitarian focus in Iran has
been on Bam. But here, some 250 km away from the earthquake-devastated
city, people are living through a longer-term emergency: a severe
drought that has been affecting the province Sistan-Baluchistan
for the past six years.
Regional water experts predict that the drought will continue
for a number of years to come.
The Iranian Red Crescent (IRCS) branches in Zahedan and Zabul
have been working for the past three years to provide safe drinking
water, collect garbage and distribute sanitation kits to Afghan
refugees and the poorest sectors of the local population in
this region of south-eastern Iran.
It is early morning, just after dawn, when I visit the water
collection point. A Red Crescent volunteer turns to me and says
“It looks like your country here in the desert now”.
I understand exactly what he means. The landscape is covered
with salt, making it resemble the snowy white hills of northern
Sweden.
The Iranian Red Crescent is battling against the forces of nature,
as this region’s soil gets dryer and dryer by the day.
As we arrive at one of the 22 water tanks, we realize that it
is not only the trucks that are queuing. Long lines of people,
armed with different kinds and colours of jerry cans, are standing
ready to collect water. Most are women and children, and some
are collecting waters for families of more than 12 members.
I am surrounded by water, wind, laughter and cries as I stand
in the middle of a large group of children in the small village
of Karimabad. When I ask a refugee girl about her life, I am
greeted with a blend of curiosity and shyness.
Mandana, now aged eight, has been living here since she was
born and to her Afghanistan is a far-off place, more like a
distant dream than reality.
A UNCHR repatriation programme has started but it is not until
2005 that families will be forced to leave Iran. Most of the
families have been living in Iran for more than two decades
and many of the children, like Mandana, were born here.
Now, more girls dare to start talking, proudly showing their
worn-out school books. They try to communicate using simple
phrases in English. Suddenly one brave girl takes my hand and
leads me towards the village school and the teacher.
The white-bearded schoolteachers’ vivid eyes reveal his
worries as he explains the lack of a school house, decent books
and other teaching materials.
“Everything starts with the children and their education,”
he says. “If our children do not have the possibility
to study, there will be no chance for us or our children to
develop, to get jobs and have hopes for the future.”
The pervasive influence of drugs and the immense burden of supporting
families become clear when we are invited to a woman’s
house in Zabul. It is dark inside her small hut. The mud floor
is covered with a worn-out factory-woven carpet and the walls
decorated with colourful plastic bags.
Our hostess complains about her mad husband and his inability
to take care of the family. He disappears for days, usually
to smoke opium, she says.
“I am scared of him,” she continues, “and
I fear the heavy responsibility of supporting myself and my
three children. Still, going back to Afghanistan is not an option
for us. I am not alone in facing this problem,” she sighs,
lifting the kettle and serving us tea.
Security is no longer the main reason for not returning to Afghanistan.
Rather, it is the economic situation that concerns most people
when they consider returning to what is for them an unknown
land.
While expressing gratitude to the Red Crescent, our hostess
says that lack of water remains a major problem for families.
She says that, apart from the essential amount delivered by
the IRCS, there are no other sources of water for the refugees
in Zabul.
Amir Abdulapour, the Federation’s senior field officer
has followed the water and sanitation project in Zahedan and
Zabul, which is funded by the European Union’s humanitarian
office, since the beginning and is very positive about the future.
A proposal for a long term solution will be presented to potential
donors in June after an extensive evaluation has been conducted
during the month of May.
“The need is obvious. But far out here in the desert and
far from people's consciousness, these problems are easily forgotten,”
Amir says.
Still, the sun continues to shine over the desert villages and
so do the smiles of the children in Zahedan and Zabul.
But if rain does not start to fall soon, the smiling faces will
disappear to be replaced by faces of hopelessness.
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Many
of the Afghan refugee children have never seen their homeland
(p11636)
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Not
snow, but salt - the whitened landsacpe around Zahedan
(p11635)
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Red
Crescent trucks prepare water for collection (p11634)
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For
Mandana, Afghanistan is a distant dream than a reality
(p11633)
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Children
queue with their jerry cans for their precious ration
of water (p11638)
Red Crescent volunteers prepare sanitation kits for vulnerable
families (p11655)
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