15 January 2004

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has sent an emergency grant to Bam to finance the installation of tents and supply urgently-needed clean drinking water. However red tape has blocked plans to deploy two international field specialists for onsite evaluation of long-term needs.

Travel visas for specialists, Guy Hovey and David Sadoo, were hindered by bureaucratic procedure last week. The pair had planned to journey to the region to assess the need for additional immediate aid as well as for longer term reconstruction. Plans for recovery efforts continue despite the visa impasse.

UMCOR and its partner relief agencies have already built hundreds of sturdy family-size tents to protect those made homeless by the earthquake from the harsh winter weather, however thousands more people are still living on the rubble-strewn streets with inadequate shelter.

Eyewitnesses in Bam have reported on the sheer scale of destruction caused by the 13-second earthquake which killed more than 30,000 people. Rebuilding will take five to seven years, according to an emergency specialist for the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC). The council, known as MECC, is coordinating UMCOR-supported efforts in and around Bam. Long-term response projects under consideration include the rehabilitation of schools and health clinics as well as the reconstruction of damaged farms in and around Bam.

Money is a critical and immediate need. Within days of the earthquake, UMCOR launched the Iran Earthquake Appeal. Donations will provide support for projects that will restore hope to vulnerable Iranian families.