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Iran

Iran: Bam operation enters new phase

by Till Mayer in Bam
Flags wave in the wind as far as eye can see, in seemingly endless rows: one flag for each grave.

Entire families are buried here. Families who perished in the earthquake that devastated Bam on 26 December 2003.

Everywhere is the black of women in mourning. A small boy stands in front of a metal sheet upon which are written the names of his mother, father and siblings.

The child is less than eight years old. By some miracle he was unharmed when the house collapsed -- a fate he did not ask for. That is what he says in a low voice.

Iain Logan is thinking about his son, the same age as this young earthquake survivor. It is a strange and sad feeling the 57-year-old will not be able to forget soon.

For nearly three months, Logan has been head of the International Federation's field operations in Bam. Three harsh months, working 14 to 16 hours a day. His home is a tent camp in the middle of a completely destroyed city.

"When I went through Bam for the first time, I was thinking about the destroyed city of Hiroshima. I had never seen such a heavy level of destruction on my missions. Everything needed to be completely rebuilt," says Logan, who has served on more than 40 missions for the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, eight of them earthquake responses.

Now he is bringing another mission to a close, with responsibility for the Federation's field hospital, which until now has been run by the Finnish and Norwegian Red Cross Societies, being handed over to the Iranian Red Crescent (IRCS).

The IRCS has also taken over the running of three basic health care centres previously operated by the Japanese Red Cross and German Red Cross.

The earthquake destroyed all of Bam's health infrastructure. The field hospital and health care centres have so far treated more than 60,000 patients, and their services will continue to be needed in the longer term.

The handover process is progressing as planned, but not without challenges. Red Cross and Red Crescent helpers from more than 16 nations have been and are still on duty.

"For the foreign aid workers, the Bam mission is a challenge: not only because of the enormous scale of the tragedy. Completely different cultures ways of thinking meet," Logan explains. "The Europeans, East Asians and Latin Americans, are not used to how their Iranian colleagues work. The Iranian Red Crescent members are confronted with unknown methods as well. But one thing really counts: All of them want to work together. And that has been the case in Bam."

A large number of local Red Crescent members in Bam, as well as doctors and nurses, died during the quake. As a result volunteers from all over Iran have come in shifts to Bam.

But they cannot leave their families and work indefinitely. The international Red Cross and Red Crescent Delegates therefore have to deal with constantly changing teams of counterparts.

"This is just one more challenge for us and often it is complicated. Nevertheless all the different teams have one thing in common: They consist of motivated helpers," Logan says.

This is a learning process for everyone involved. There are delegates, used only to organized schedule of a European hospital, who have learned the art of improvisation so often required in a field-hospital.

There is the Iranian Red Crescent Society, a strong and experienced national society with the know-how as well as the ambition for more missions abroad. The cooperation with the large number of foreign delegates from the Red Cross and Red Crescent family constitutes vital experience for their future work.

Meanwhile, there is still much work to be done in Bam. Recently 18 people were seriously burned in an accident in a village near Bam. They had to travel for an hour with terrible injuries in an open truck to reach the field hospital. It was a long afternoon for the medical team, but they managed to save 13 lives. However, five of the victims died in the field hospital or on the way to the clinic in Kerman.

"The Iranian colleagues are well trained," says German Red Cross team leader Claus Muchow. He and the Finnish head of the field hospital Kari Vanamo agree that the handover process is a positive development.

The capacity of the Iranian Red Crescent is increasing, and they are able to start their own field hospital and basic health care centres for the next disaster.

Amir Reza Vafaei normally works as a doctor at the University Hospital in Tabriz. Now, the 32-year-old has volunteered for a two-week mission at the field hospital.

"It is a big change for me to work in a field hospital: the heat, the dust and the large number of patients. Every working day is a challenge. But as a doctor you have the duty to assist people in need," he explains.

Notwithstanding the different cultures working alongside each other in Bam, some fundamental truths remain. Vafaei's words are not so different from those of Kari Vanamo: "I do not want to stand aside when human beings are in need. I cannot tolerate this," the Finnish doctor says.

It is a view shared by Iain Logan. He knows exactly what he will feel when he boards the plane that finally brings him home. "Suddenly hundreds of things come to my mind that I still want to do on my mission. If I could, I would just jump out of the plane. I have the same feeling at the end of every mission. But I have fulfilled my task here. We have achieved a lot and we have also learnt from mistakes. But Bam will need help for a couple of years".