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Dateline ACTIran 04/04Helping to construct houses, helping to build hopeBy Rainer Lang, EPD/ACT InternationalBam, Iran, August 30, 2004--Mansoor Qalandary does not think about the future. “I am doing my work,” the 44-year-old says while working on the foundation of his new house in the village of Bideranenow, near Bam. He says that, along with himself, some residents of his village, which was destroyed in the earthquake at the end of last year, think their future will be worse. The earthquake on December 26, 2003, devastated Bam and an area about 15 km around the ancient city. Yet members of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, a global alliance of churches and related agencies, are giving survivors of the earthquake reason to hope again. Qalandary is one of the beneficiaries of the housing program of Diakonie Emergency Aid (DEA) and HEKS, the aid agency of the Protestant churches in Switzerland. With their support, 213 earthquake-proof houses are being built in four of the 22 villages that were completely destroyed. About 4,000 houses made from mud bricks collapsed in the quake in the area. Qalandary, the father of eight children, lost his 19-year-old daughter, who lived in a neighboring village, in the earthquake. Her husband lost a leg. Qalandary was able to free himself from the rubble of his house. "I heard a terrible sound,” he says. The roof of his house had collapsed, and bricks had fallen on members of his family. Two of his children were injured but not severely. Qalandary was a professional driver who now has no work because of the earthquake. He is happy that he can work on his own house, and his 16-year-old son, Rasool, is helping him. All of the families receiving assistance with home construction are spending time working on their homes. DEA is also planning income-generation projects and special activities for women. Another village, Nizamwafa, is experiencing some of the same pessimism as Qalandary’s. It lost 21 people in the earthquake. Ismat Biderani, a farmer, says that life is very bad now. The 38-year-old and his family are also beneficiaries of the houses built by DEA and HEKS.Biderani says the earthquake has brought them close to ruin. Farm animals were killed in the earthquake. The quake also destroyed the ancient canals used for watering date palms, a popular crop in the Bam area. Now the palm trees, which need enormous amounts of water, are dying. The dates from Bam were known as some of the best in Iran. On top of this, for the past five years, there has been a drought in the region, causing the amount of arable land to shrink. By June of this year, the foundations of approximately 50 houses were finished. The housing program’s cooperation with the government is good. DEA and HEKS staff members say the administration sees the program as a model for reconstruction. DEA and HEKS are also providing water tanks and mobile sanitation stations with toilets and showers for people whose homes were destroyed or whose water supply systems were damaged. The people living among the rubble of their villages are still trying to realize what happened during the few seconds when the earthquake hit and turned their lives upside down. In spite of their ongoing grief and personal battles against depression and lethargy brought on by their losses, they see progress when new houses are being built.
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