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Friendship mission takes flight

Emma Poole
Calgary Herald
Zahedan, Iran

Antonov 124-100 Engineer, Boris Levenchuck waiting for the takeoff, Sunday morning. The large aircraft contains the Canadian and UK distribution of Christmas shoe boxes, for the Operation Christmas Child, departing from Stansted Airport, north east of London, UK, bound to Zahedan, Iran. The boxes will be distributed in refugee camps in S.W. Afghanistan in the next few days.

Thousands of toy-filled shoeboxes packed by Calgary children are only 200 kilometres from their final destination -- two refugee camps in the Nimruz district of war-torn Afghanistan.

Approximately 3,500 Operation Christmas Child boxes were flown out of Calgary last week destined for England, where they were added to another 16,500 packages filled by people in the United Kingdom.

Together, the humanitarian aid -- including coats, shoes and hygiene items -- will bring a little happiness to people in a country ravaged by drought, famine and now, another war.

Since the U.S. bombing campaign began in October, more than 20,000 refugees have landed in the camps along Afghanistan's western border with Iran, near the town of Zaranj.

More arrive each day with only the clothes on their backs. With winter in full force, they don't have the blankets, food and apparel to survive near-freezing temperatures.

Some were forced to flee villages destroyed by bombs as U.S. forces hunted for Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Technician crew member Mason Vladimir checks the cargo in the Antonov 124 air craft.

Others were unable to feed their families because of a disruption in food delivery created by the war, leaving them with little option but to abandon their lives for a white canvas tent and the hope they will soon be able to return to their homes.

Many of the people who have to come to the camps -- established by the Iranian Red Crescent (as the Red Cross is known in the Muslim world) -- have no idea of the horror and loss of life that occurred on Sept. 11.

Almost all of them, however, have lost a family member since the retaliatory bombings began on Oct. 7.

The journey to aid Afghanistan began more than a month ago when Sean Campbell, executive director of Samaritan's Purse -- whose Canadian head office is in Calgary -- visited Iran and was told of the refugee crisis.

The Iranian government already had thousands of refugees in the country and couldn't afford to take any more.

So, two camps filled with white tents were erected less than 10 kilometres inside Afghanistan, populated mostly by people from the country's northwest corner near the city of Herat.

Samaritan's Purse wanted to bring into Afghanistan the essential items needed for survival, such as food, clothing and hygiene items, but it was also hoping to bring a little happiness to the youngest residents of the camps.

Andrii Spasibo sits in the cockpit of the Antonov 124-100 and preparing for the takeoff, Sunday morning.

With that in mind, the charity asked the Iranian government if it could bring in thousands of Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes packed with toys. The government assented, and said the operation could begin as soon as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ended this weekend.

"Our objective wasn't initially to bring the shoeboxes into (Afghanistan). We wanted to help with the more critical needs. Once we got to Iran, we told them about Operation Christmas Child and asked if we could bring the boxes in as well," said Ivan Giesbrecht of Samaritan's Purse. "The kids in the camps have nothing and are in such desperate need. They spend the day playing with garbage and rocks."

Approximately 3,500 boxes, along with thousands of pairs of shoes, coats and supplies left Calgary about two weeks ago. The cargo landed in London, England, where it was met on Saturday by Giesbrecht and a delegation of six Samaritan's Purse members based in the U.K.

One of the Brits, Dave Cooke, is the founder of Operation Christmas Child, which several years ago joined forces with Samaritan's Purse to deliver shoeboxes worldwide.

At London's Stanstead airport on Sunday, workers loaded the aid packages onto the world's largest aircraft -- a Russian-built Antonov-124. The aircraft can hold as much as 170 tonnes of cargo and can fly for 25 hours -- or 25,000 kilometres -- without refuelling.

For just this trip, the massive jet was transformed into Santa's largest sleigh, and after an eight-minute engine charge on the runway, was bound for Iran.

Seven hours later, the cargo and the OCC team who tagged along for the ride arrived in Zahedan, Iran, where they were met by throngs of local residents.

The Antonov 124-100 aircraft with its nose open in Zahedan Iran, midnight, local time.

Early this morning, the boxes and the teams set to distribute them will roll into the first Afghan refugee camp controlled by Northern Alliance forces battling the Taliban regime and soldiers loyal to bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization.

Named Mile 46, the camp is than 10 kilometres inside Afghanistan, near the Iranian town of Zabol.

The bus carrying the westerners, including Calgary-based Canadian Alliance MP Art Hanger, is being escorted by the Iranian military over the Afghan border -- marked simply by a rope across the road held up by two trucks. For three hours, the convoy will journey across the scorched desert to bring help to those who need it most.