Behkadeh Raji
Behkadeh Rādschi , international / English mostly Behkadeh Raji ( Persian بهکده راجی Behkade Radschi , DMG Behkade Rāǧī ), is the first leprosarium that the economically-sufficient, independent village was even built. It was created in 1961 at the active instigation of Farah Pahlavi in Iran and is run by the Iran Leprosy Fund (جمعیت کمک به جذامیان, DMG Ǧamʿiyat-e Komak be Ǧoẕāmiyān , often Jamiyat-e Komak be Jozamian ). The aim of the village concept was not only to achieve optimal care for leprosy sufferers, but also to change the attitude of the population towards those suffering from leprosy and how they deal with them through the coexistence of sick and healthy people.
History of origin
The Iran Leprosy Fund (Jamiyat-e Komak be Jozamian) was founded by Abdol-Hossein Raji (1902–1972) and was headed for many years. In addition to medical help, it also offered those affected and their family members social services and financial support. Shortly after her marriage to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Farah Pahlavi took over the chairmanship of the leprosy relief organization in Iran at the request of former Health Minister Abdol-Hossein Raji. Farah Pahlavi had already got to know the suffering of lepers in Iran as a student in a lecture at her high school.
The situation of lepers in Iran was desolate until the mid-1950s. The few leprosy stations in the country were mostly run by Christian priests and nuns. Numerous lepers had made pilgrimages to Imam Reza mosque in Mashhad to pray for their recovery. The mosque was one of the most important pilgrimage centers and offered the sick the opportunity to earn a living by begging. The administration of Mashhad wanted to get rid of the sick. Was built 3 kilometers from Mashhad from a hospital for lepers, the leprosarium Asayeshgah Mehrab Khans. 900 lepers were housed in the leper colony. In addition, 180 healthy children of leprosy mothers lived in the colony without any school supplies. Although the main building was equipped with modern devices including water taps with light barriers, the supply still fell short of the international standards.
After Farah Pahlavi had agreed to support the “Iran Leprosy Fund”, the first thing to do was to record all leprosy patients in the country and to take them to the extended leprosy station in Mashhad or, if that was not possible, to local hospitals for inpatient treatment. As part of a scientific field study, the regional spread of leprosy and the status of medical care were examined. It turned out that both the general public and most doctors were poorly informed about the disease.
The recommendation of the World Health Organization ( WHO) to treat lepers on site in their villages in order to avoid social exclusion of the sick could not be implemented because the villagers did not tolerate the sick in their village community for fear of infection. This led to the idea of building their own village for the sick, which - as far as possible - should be financially self-sufficient in order to enable the sick to lead a self-determined life.
Structure and functionality
Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi signed land (30,000 hectares) in Gorgan , 450 km northeast of Tehran, over to the Iranian leprosy relief organization . There, the village of Deh Kadeh was built with over three hundred houses including a hospital, elementary school, library, cinema, police station, restaurant, public bath, handicraft workshops, agricultural facilities, gas station, car repair shop, a knitting factory for stockings and socks and a carpet weaving workshop. Irrigation systems for fields, fruit and vegetable gardens were created. Each inhabitant received three sheep as a basis for economic self-sufficiency. A sheep farmer gave courses in sheep breeding. The village community owned a pasture area of 24 hectares.
The medical equipment of the Behkadeh Raji hospital was financed by a donation from the German Leper Aid Organization. Medical care was provided by Iranian doctors. In addition, volunteer doctors from Pakistan, India, France and Switzerland came to Deh Kadeh in order to restore the disfigured faces, hands and legs of the sick as much as possible with the help of plastic surgery.
Since the agricultural production of the cured lepers from Behkadeh Raji exceeded their own needs, the surpluses such as potatoes or cotton were sold on the markets in the area.
The village grew not only through the influx of sick people. More and more healthy people from the area worked in the village facilities for their own livelihood or came to the cinema or to eat in the village restaurant. With the establishment of the village, which was given the name Behkadeh Raji, it was possible not only to improve the medical care of lepers, but also to remove their social exclusion.
As part of the White Revolution employee participation program , a joint stock company was established in 1975 to exploit Behkadeh Raji's products.
Behkadeh Raji today
The village was renamed Behkadeh Razavi after the Islamic Revolution . Mariam Khodadadian reported on the condition of the village in 2003:
“Behkadeh Raji, one of the most beautiful villages in Iran, lies there today as if it were deserted. The village's hospital, which was considered the best hospital in the region, is only open for a few hours every two days. Medical care for lepers is provided by a general practitioner. The knitting and carpet making, where the women of the village worked, are closed. The cinema was initially converted into a sports club, which was then also closed. The village library has run out of money for new acquisitions and is no longer visited. The police station was closed. The village's bank was closed because the village's economic activity largely came to a standstill. Most of the houses in the village are in urgent need of repair. The earlier promise that the families of the lepers could live in the houses indefinitely was revoked. The families who have previously lived in Behkadeh Raji had to notarise that they had no rights to the houses. The keys to the houses have been withdrawn. Residents complained that the lepers had to hand over the houses that Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had built for them. In the meantime the lepers have lost their economic independence and see themselves as beggars again. Behkadeh Raji's shares in the corporation were confiscated. The 30,000 hectares of land owned by the company were also confiscated. Many lepers are forced to beg again because they can no longer earn their own income. "
Leprosy Relief Organization Iran
In addition to the establishment and care of the Behkadeh leprosy , which was named in honor of Abdol-Hossein Raji, the Iran Leprosy Fund (Jamiyat-e Komak be Jozamian) supported lepers and their families throughout the country. Medical assistance included direct medical treatment and rehabilitation measures. Through the contractually agreed collaboration with a French leprosy institute, the leprosy relief organization received personal support from a French specialist, a plastic surgeon, an ophthalmologist, laboratory and nursing staff and a physiotherapist. The Iran Leprosy Fund worked closely with the Iranian Ministry of Health.
Representation in the film
The poet Forugh Farrochzad made a moving film about Baba Baghi, also an independent village with lepers, entitled Chāneh siyāh ast (“ The house is black ”), which won the 1963 Grand Prix of the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival .
literature
- Mansureh Pirnia: Safar Nameh Shahbanu. Entesharat More Iran. 1371, p. 250.
- Published by Her Highness Farah Pahlavi's Office, 1354 (1975).
Individual evidence
- ^ Farah Diba-Pahlavi: Memories . Gustav Lübbe Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach 2004, ISBN 3-7857-2157-9 , p. 156.
- ↑ Mansureh Pirnia: Safar Nameh Shahbanu. Entesharat Mehr Iran, 1371, p. 250.
- ^ A b Farah Diba-Pahlavi: Memories . Gustav Lübbe Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach 2004, ISBN 3-7857-2157-9 , p. 158.
- ↑ Report of the Society for Self-Sufficiency for Lepers (Farsi) ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Publication by Her Highness Office (Farah Pahlavi), 1354 (1975), p. 150.
Coordinates: 36 ° 50 ′ N , 54 ° 29 ′ E