Second medical consignment to Al Hillah
Vienna, 23 May 2003
Diakonie Auslandshilfe is currently preparing a second consignment of emergency medicines to be delivered to Al Hillah, about
100km south of Baghdad. Mr Shukri Krunz from Diakonie Auslandshilfe is heading the operation. The consignment, to the value of approximately EUR 75,000
will consist of urgently required medical equipment, medicines and other supplies to be purchased in Amman in Jordan.
Mr Krunz has worked for Diakonie Auslandshilfe for many years, on many projects abroad as well as here in Austria, where he is
responsible for the Grimmgasse shelter for refugees in Vienna's 15th district.
Mr Krunz was involved in the first transport of medicines (see text "Whoever bought the medicine saved my life ...") and he
described the security situation on the road they will have to travel from Jordan to Baghdad as life-threatening. There are no checkpoints on this stretch,
which combined with the constant threat of attack, is particularly problematic for NGOs trying to bring aid into the country.
Diakonie Auslandshilfe was the first aid organization to reach Al Hillah. It seems that international aid is being
concentrated in certain areas such as the Kurdish bastions in the North, Basra and Baghdad so that some places have an excess while others are in
desperate need of basic necessities. During the war, fighting in Al Hillah was particularly fierce and indeed, vital communications were cut off after a
bridge was destroyed so that urgently required medical supplies could not be delivered for some time. This consignment is much needed in the overworked
hospitals of Al Hillah.
According to Mr Krunz, the Iraqi people are divided in their opinions regarding the current situation in their country. On the
one hand, members of minorities subject to discrimination under Saddam, speak of being freed by the US and British troops. These people are hopeful and
expectant that the future can only bring improvements. For the majority of the population, the war has brought a dramatic fall in their standard of living
and many lack basis necessities such as sufficient food. Mr Krunz spoke of people competing with dogs for the scraps left over in the rubbish. In the
opinion of many, the regime under Saddam Hussein provided well for them and they view the foreign soldiers as an occupying force. Optimism about the
future is in short supply.
Diakonie Auslandshilfe and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) are members of Action by Churches Together (ACT)
International.
| 
