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One of the projects run by IBC in Bam is psycho-social intervention in 8 Children's Social Centers (16 classes), in the camps Qom1, Qom2, Isfahan1, Isfahan2 and Shehrdari (Municipality), the work in this Centers being lead by 2 psychologists, 16 teachers and one art instructor.
IBC – International Blue Crescent Relief and Development Foundation started this project in April 2004 which will continue under the name of IBC up to the end of January 2005. Afterwards, the project will be continued by “Blue Crescent Bam” – the association of the IBC Iranian workers' in the camps (the Bami staff of the Children's Centers and Laundry rooms) who, with the support of IBC, will start managing the work that they got used to do since the beginning of the project.
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The almost 400 children active in the Centers benefited from psychological therapies and support, getting back their childhood joy and the hope for new perspectives. The active music therapy (with flutes and bells) was one of the activities very well received by the children and with great results at the post evaluation tests targeting to see the scale of reducing the PTST – post traumatic stress disorder cases between children of ages starting with 3 years old up to 14.
In IBC Centers every day is a day of being together, of learning things, of discovering and gaining trust in itself. Every smile of a child became for IBC staff a battle won, as there were so many children who were refusing to talk or to smile after the traumatic event of the earthquake.
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The day of 13 th of December 2004, was a day of joy and happiness in the Turkish containers camp Qom1 established by IBC and the Turkish Government in the early days after the earthquake in the city of Bam. The happiness had two reasons for both children, teachers and for us, IBC staff: Muhammad Hossein's birthday and the IBC winter jackets distribution.
IBC has distributed winter jackets for a number of 500 children, in the 5 camps and in the kindergarten established in Khayam neighborhood in which the IBC rehabilitation team was active up to the end of November and in which the Iranian State Welfare Organization (Behzisti) will continue to work. |
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13 th of December was a day of gifts for the children in the camps and a day of songs and greetings for the little Muhammad Hossein who stepped into a new year of his 4 years old life, being celebrated by all his small classmates, teachers, parents and IBC staff. An extremely active, intelligent and always smiling child… He is living since February in the Turkish container camp Qom1 , together with his mother and father, his older brother Milad and his cosine, Zahra, a 4 years old girl, who lost both her mother and her father in the earthquake. Zahra is now Muhammad Hossein's sister and he shares everything he has with her. Mohammad Hossein wanted to be a pilot, as he likes a lot the airplanes and their ability to fly, but he is also thinking that he would like to become a teacher, to be able to play with the children, as he says that in the schools the children are always happy.
IBC's staff has always deled closely with all the children, encouraging them to express themselves, helping them to face the reality as it is and to learn how to look up to the future, how to smile, as these children are the future of Bam, the future of all the parents who lost their sons and daughters too early last year in December 26 th .
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Added: 17/12/2004 |
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