Delivering message brings Iraqi conflict home
Like many other people, Karen Miller, Disaster Services Coordinator for the Lower Mainland Region, has watched some of the extensive media coverage devoted to the armed conflict in Iraq. Unlike most people, however, she has also experienced firsthand the anxiety felt by a family in Vancouver who endured weeks without contact with their relatives in Iraq. Miller was given the task recently of delivering a family message that had been forwarded to Vancouver from Basra, Iraq through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva.
The ICRC established the Family News Network to accelerate the process of restoring contact between separated family members and to facilitate the exchange of family news. In cooperation with the tracing services of the national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, ICRC is using a website (http://www.familylinks.icrc.org/gulf2003) to offer tracing services to victims of this conflict. The site is available in both English and Arabic.
According to Miller, the message arrived at the Lower Mainland office on April 23rd. Though these types of message are often delivered over the phone, she called the family and offered to deliver the message in person when she realized their house was not far from her own Vancouver home.
“Naturally, the family was quite apprehensive when I arrived, as they had no idea what news the message would contain” says Miller. “I had no idea either, as the message was written in Arabic.” Miller decided to leave the family for an hour, in order to give them time to absorb the news they had just received.
Fortunately, what Miller returned to was hugs of gratitude from a family “overcome with joy” at the news that all their relatives in Basra were safe and well. “Moments like that are the payoff I get from working for Red Cross,” she says. “Reuniting a family and delivering good news – that’s what we’re all about.” Miller is very happy that she decided to deliver the message in person, despite the fact that the news may not have been so positive. Faced with a similar situation in future, she says she would handle things the same way again “in a heartbeat.” Through Miller, the family was able to send a reply message to their relatives in Iraq on April 24, thus completing the communication loop.
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