News 148, Love in Action

Loving Relief Rendered to Iran’s Earthquake Victims

In the early morning of December 26, 2003, a strong earthquake rocked the city of Bam in southeastern Iran, causing extensive destruction and numerous casualties. Upon learning that Master was greatly concerned about the disaster, fellow initiates in Iran and Singapore immediately formed a relief team, bringing along Her love and US$70,000, and reached the affected area on January 1, 2004 to distribute relief supplies to victims. Details of this operation will be reported in the next issue of the News magazine.

News 149, Love in Action

Report from Iran

Iranian Quake Victims Welcome Master's Infinite Mercy

by the Singapore News Group
(originally in English)

On December 26, 2003 a pre-dawn earthquake rocked the city of Bam in Iran's southeastern Kerman Province, resulting in extensive destruction, numerous casualties and thousands of homeless victims. So the merciful Supreme Master Ching Hai immediately instructed that an emergency aid effort be conducted in the region. So on January 1, 2004, a relief team comprised of initiates from Singapore and Iran arrived in Tehran to organize the distribution of needed supplies.

To ensure that the work proceeded smoothly, the team was divided into three groups; one remained in Tehran and the other two went to Kerman. Then, from the Kerman airport, one of the teams proceeded by car to Bam.

Upon their arrival in Bam, the team members immediately went about assessing the situation in the quake-stricken area, but even with maps in hand, moving around was difficult because the tremor had flattened most of the city's predominantly mud-brick buildings. A piece of equipment featuring Global Positioning System (GPS) technology came in handy as it expedited the job of navigating and charting the regions where the distribution was to occur.

The relief workers learned that Bam had been divided into several zones, each under different management, giving them a clearer picture of the situation, and enabling them to better identify and assess the areas where people were in greatest need of Master's comfort and aid.

Next the team traveled to various locations to visit survivors living in tents, many of whom had not only lost their homes, but also their immediate family members and other relatives. With the help of an Iranian sister, the initiates spoke with the victims and enquired about their most urgent needs. These visits yielded a list of over a dozen commonly requested relief provisions such as personal hygiene items, undergarments, slippers, toys and ultra heat-treated milk.

Upon receiving the list, team members in Kerman quickly went about acquiring the items. In fact, the initiates had already been busy with relief work since their arrival in the city, approaching shop owners in bazaars and neighborhoods to determine whether aid materials were available in large quantities, and enquiring about renting trucks with which to transport the supplies to Bam.

Team members from Tehran went to Kerman to help with the buying and packing of the relief items, and soon all the necessary supplies were obtained in local shops. The shop owners, knowing that the goods would be distributed to their countrymen in Bam, were tremendously helpful. For example, one owner who had sold slippers to the relief team offered his warehouse as a place to store the supplies. Though the place was relatively small, the workers managed to create space to store the provisions and pack everything into gift packages on the night of January 7, 2004. Financial aid placed in envelopes was also included in each package.

On the following afternoon, two trucks were loaded with the supplies amidst a light drizzle, which local residents rejoiced at considering no rain had fallen in the area for some time. While transporting the goods to Bam, the relief team experienced a heavy downpour, which stopped upon their arrival in the city. The aid packages were then unloaded into an apartment belonging to an Iranian sister's family friend.

The apartment had an open courtyard where team members prepared more gift packs for distribution. Fortunately, the apartment was also in a special economic zone protected by security guards. The relief team is grateful to Master for this caring arrangement.

As a safety precaution, the relief packages were distributed under the cover of darkness, and on the first night the work went smoothly as both personnel and gift packets were transported to the distribution area by truck. The vehicle was parked outside the distribution zone and taxis were used to transport personnel and gift packets. Then at various points, team members went on foot to deliver Master's love and presents to the quake victims.

Police escorts were present at some of the distribution points; so while the aid packages were handed out, the truck was parked near a police post for safety reasons. Upon observing this situation, the police offered to load their sport utility vehicle with packages and even helped with distribution. In addition, the taxi drivers whom we had hired also lent a hand.

On the second night, the distribution was also carried out efficiently, with more gift packages reaching those in need. During the relief team's rounds, some recipients rushed out of their tents to thank the workers and God. A few mentioned that The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association was the only foreign group whose members had personally delivered locally purchased items to the area. Other people slept soundly in their tents, unaware that the team had placed gifts from Master at the entrances.

While in Bam, the aid workers were led by a local resident to a regional education office where they learned that the city's children required stationery materials for their school lessons. So the team later delivered a complete set of the needed items to the youngsters.

At 5:00 AM on January 11, the workers successfully completed their efforts in Bam, with approximately 3,250 aid packages having been distributed over three nights. During the team's stay in the city, many aftershocks were felt, with the largest serving as a wake-up call for the initiates that morning, and afterwards they headed back to Kerman.

	Gift items for the Behzisty orphanage children.

After arriving in Kerman, the team visited the offices of Bahonar Hospital and Behzisty, a local welfare organization. Previously, Behzisty's orphanages had housed many of the Bam earthquake victims' children, but most were gradually reclaimed by their parents or relatives. However, the initiates noted that nineteen children from Bam below the age of three were still living in one orphanage. So they purchased mattresses, blankets, pillows, pillow cases, toys, milk powder, stationery supplies and several other items and delivered them to the facility.

In addition, Bahonar Hospital, situated near the orphanage, contained forty-six patients from Bam. The relief team was given information about these patients as well as a list of items that would be useful to them once they were discharged from the Hospital. The initiates then bought these supplies and visited the hospital to comfort the victims and deliver their loving gifts from Master. Once again, envelopes containing gift money were included in the packages.

Although the aid workers were unable to visit the patients who were still in intensive care units, the hospital staff requested beverages for them in the form of apple juice, orange juice, pineapple juice and milk. The hospital required twenty liters of such fluids each day so the team purchased and delivered more than a month's supply.

When the relief team members arrived back in Tehran, they learned through the help of the Raad Rehabilitation Goodwill Complex (RRGC), a private social service organization, that wheelchairs with toilet seats were urgently needed by Bam quake victims in Kerman. Thus 72 units were purchased and sent to RRGC for delivery to the city.

During their stay in Iran, the relief team experienced little fatigue but plenty of blessing from Master. Happiness was seen beaming from the faces of the earthquake survivors who received Master's love, and many were touched that people from other countries had shown sincere concern for them, deeply appreciating The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association's presence and compassionate work in their time of need.

Copyright © The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association
All Rights Reserved.