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Published by
International Orthodox Christian Charities,
February 21, 2005
IOCC Reaching Out to Children of Beslan,
Russia
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February 21, 2005
Baltimore (IOCC) Grief, doubt, anger, fear. And
still more grief. The aftershocks of the events of
September 2004 continue to affect the people of
Beslan, Russia, five months after gunmen attacked
School No. 1, killing more than 300 children.
As the people of Beslan face the reality of life
without many of their children, International
Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) and the
Russian Orthodox Church are redoubling their
efforts to offer counseling services, educational
opportunities, and other forms of assistance.
IOCC is helping the Russian Orthodox Diocese of
Rostov expand a counseling center that is serving
the Beslan survivors and other victims of trauma
in the war-torn region. The center provides
long-term grief and trauma counseling through a
staff of psychiatrists, psychologists, social
workers, priests and nuns.
Rostov is a city in southern Russia where victims
of the violent conflicts in the region, including
those from Beslan, have gone for treatment and
counseling. IOCC has worked in southern Russia and
the northern Caucasus for more than 10 years,
providing a broad range of assistance to war
victims there.
The Diocese of Rostov is very interested in
maintaining its help to those affected by this
tragedy, and they have space available to expand
their services, said George Antoun, IOCC regional
director for Russia and the Middle East.
After the terrorist incident in Beslan, many
injured children and adults were brought to the
hospitals of Rostov, Antoun said. The city
hosted immediate family members and relatives of
the people who were injured or killed in the
course of the tragedy.
The counseling center will include a 24-hour
crisis hotline staffed by volunteers.
In partnership with the Church, IOCC also is
helping schools in Beslan deal with the influx of
students from the destroyed School No. 1 through
the provision of 18 computers and two
photocopiers. The equipment will expand
educational opportunities for the children of
Beslan and improve the quality of education
offered by the schools.
So that counseling services remain available for
the long term, IOCC is organizing the training of
qualified Russians in trauma counseling
techniques. The training will be provided by the
Seminars on Trauma Awareness and Recovery (STAR),
a joint project of Church World Service and
Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va.
IOCC is overseeing the translation into Russian of
a training manual that the STAR graduates will use
to train other mental health professionals and
clergy in Russia.
Since the September 2004 attack in Beslan, IOCC
has been providing short-term and long-term
assistance to the suffering people there. IOCC
continues to implement other relief and
development programs in the troubled Caucasus
region.
Founded in 1992, IOCC is the official humanitarian
aid agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical
Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA).
For media inquiries, please contact IOCC
Communications Associate Stephen Huba at
1-877-803-4622 or shuba@iocc.org.
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