INTERNATIONAL BLUE CRESCENT (IBC) HAS TRANSFERRED ITS KNOWLEDGE AND CAPACITY TO BLUE CRESCENT BAM  The children in Bam never lost their smiles

 

At the end of January 2005, IBC Turkey has transferred its project run in the 5 Turkish container camps (Children's Social Centers and Laundries) to the newly established Blue Crescent Bam, an official, community based organization in Bam, having as active members all IBC former staff who worked directly in the projects during IBC's operation to support the victims of the earthquake in 2003.

Blue Crescent Bam was empowered by IBC to continue working in the 5 camps, until the reconstruction of the city will be complete and the people in the camps will be able to go back to their homes. The new enthusiastic members of Blue Crescent Bam received capacity building training for continuing by their own the project and all the logistics that IBC used during its mission. Also IBC is supporting and monitoring BCB's work for at least a period of 6 months time, after the end of its mission.


Blue Crescent Bam has taken the responsibility of dealing with the aid of their own people and has in present 28 members active in the project in the 5 camps, all of them former local staff of IBC in Bam (clinical psychologists, instructors for psycho social intervention, art instructor, laundry keepers, logistician, financial supervisor, guards). In present, BCB has been following the psychosocial intervention curricula (for the Children's Social Centers) which was used by IBC and is continuing the work of laundry rooms.

In what concerns the psychosocial intervention, the children were divided by age in two shifts, kindergarten age in the mornings and primary / secondary school age in the afternoon.

For the kindergarten age children, IBC has used an indirect approach, continued now by BCB. Free playing decrease bodily tension and mentally stress. Social plays and group activities are used for the older ages. Blue Crescent Bam's curricula included: drawing, painting, claying, free playing, active (performing) and passive (listening) music activities, story telling, rhythmic movement with music etc. The program also includes English learning: alphabet, simple words, songs etc. There are also creative activities for increasing children's concentration, memory and attention.


For the primary and secondary school age students, the BCB Centers are a suitable environment for home works. The instructors help them with their studies, dividing them into groups in which participants cooperate in the school tasks. Music activity is another program in which the students are learning writing and reading music notes and music dictation. In this concern, BCB has selected the best students, formed a group which performs music (bells and flutes) in especial ceremonies in Bam, like the opening of the Housing Foundation's exhibition site in Bam, Ministry of Education's ceremony, Unicef meeting, Children book exhibition. There is a similar group for drama performance. In the same time, there are other programs followed in centers including drawing, painting, group focused and creative activities.

Child rights promotion is one of the important aspects of the Children's centers. In weekly sessions with the instructors, the BCB clinical psychologist talks about developmental psychology and new approaches in education, the relation between the psychological theories and the practical education. In this respect, there was also established a little literary for the instructors of the Centers. The developmental psychology sessions include topics as: “Different stage of developmental psychology and their characteristics”; “How do the children think?”; “Importance of human development”; “Child rights”; “How we can influence on families by the children?”.

With the occasion of the Persian New Year (Norooz, 21 of March), BCB had a ceremony for the children, including distribution of some gifts. For the Haffsin ceremony (the Iranian ritual for Norooz), the children have painted eggs, had grew greenery, put in the Centers aquariums with fish, and during the last Wednesday before the New Year they had a ceremony in Isfahan1 camp, where they distributed the gifts they prepared to their instructors and the ladies without husband living in the camp. During the New Year holydays, the children made little gardens near their classes and planted different flowers, they cleaned their classes and the area around. In the music classes, they learned songs about Norooz and its rituals.
 
Added: 26/04/2005