Currently Children of Persia has the following ongoing projects:

1. Zabol Medical Clinic in Sistan/Baluchestan

2. Runaway Youth Project

3. Medical Equipment/ Medicine Drive

4. Food/Clothing Drive (to be announced)

5. Adopt A Road

1. Zabol Medical Clinic in Sistan/Baluchestan

Children of Persia in cooperation with Nore-Fadak, an NGO in Iran, will be providing assistance to construct and equip a rural medical clinic. The building shall be 675 square meters and shall be designed using a modular building concept in accordance with current standards of health care facilities in IRAN. This building will be located, on a donated land, between the cities of ZAHEDAN and ZABOL in the village of Roustam, at ChahRaheh Aslan, in eastern province of Sistan & Baluchestan - IRAN. 

The Clinic, a non-profit, private center will be an inclusive medical center. It will have the following centers:

·   Primary Care center, to address the basic needs of the children & their families on a regular basis in the community.

·   Urgent Care center, to address the urgent needs of children and their family on a 7/24 schedule.

·   Diagnostic Center, to address the routine testing and preventive measures that are needed for children. It includes immunization, medical laboratory facilities and radiology.

·   Specialty Center which to address the needs of families for better health care. This center includes dental, pharmacy, and eye care facilities.

o      In addition this center will provide health educational programs for women and families to better the health care status of the community.

The design of this building has been completed by our volunteer Architect from National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. The plan has been approved by the Ministry of health services in Iran and construction has begun in June 2002.

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2. Runaway Youth Project Runaway Youth Home

Children of Persia is concerned about the Runaway Youth problems in different cities across Iran. Our present project is to educate the public about the extent of this problem. In addition, presently, we are evaluating possible projects with Runaway youth homes for girls and boys in Tehran.

We invite you to read the following article to get a real feel for the enormity of the runaway youth problem. 

Iran Society Youth: Young Iranian runaways hit dead end of prostitution and drug abuse 
Agence France-Presse - June 1, 2002
Sohrab Morovati

TEHRAN , June 1 (AFP) - A growing number of Iranian young people are running away from home, with many falling into prostitution, newspapers here said Saturday.

"Fifty to 60 girls are rounded-up in Tehran everyday after having fled from their homes", sociology professor Majid Abhari said, quoted in the daily Entekhab paper. The number of young runaways has increased by some 12 percent since 2000, added Abhari, who helped set-up two centers in Tehran, named Reyhaneh and Green House, to shelter these troubled youth.

He believes Tehran is home to "around 84,000 prostitutes", explaining that many young runaway girls take up this profession in order to survive. "Investigators say there are around 200 to 250 brothels in Tehran...the number of prostitutes rises every year by 10 to 15 percent. They are generally girls aged between 16 to 18", he said. "Recently, two HIV positive girls, aged 16 and 17, contaminated 1,100 people in two months on the run", he added.

Another sociologist, Davar Shikhavand, quoted in the Hambastegi daily, explained that a large number of girls run away from home because they are mistreated by their parents. "Many suffer sexual abuse from their father or brothers, and out of fear of being beaten, they do not dare to speak about it", he said, adding that "many boys between the age of 11 and 15 are victims of pedophilia", a subject that is largely taboo in this strict Islamic society.

He explained that many young runaway boys and girls are brought into sexual abuse networks run by foreigners, adding that authorities had identified 15 such networks in Tehran. In all "a minimum of 20,000 people have run away from home", he said.

Many of the young people also turn to drug addiction. It is estimated that two million drug addicts count among Iran's 60 million population. The bulk are young people, since 70 percent of the country's population is under the age of 30.

In 2001, 193,000 drug addicts were detained and then freed after being fined and whipped. The country's conservative religious leaders, alarmed by these trends, have ceased turning a blind-eye to them and have begun denouncing what they consider mounting "corruption", as did Ayatollah Ahmad Janati during prayers at Tehran University on Friday. "Wherever you see corruption, shout! If the ministry of culture issues an inappropriate license (for a publication), then shout! If state television broadcasts a corrupt film, then shout out!" he told worshippers. This, as well as the clerics' use of more repressive methods against young Iranians accused of corruption, has fueled frustrations.  

Roadblocks manned by Basij volunteers, an Islamic police force answerable only to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have sprung up again on the streets of Tehran, after having faded out over the last two years. They target "juvenile delinquents", or unmarried couples spending time together under "un-Islamic conditions". This has meant more arrests, with 120 youth detained in Tehran last week.  

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3. Medical Equipment/Medicine Drive

Children of Persia, simultaneously with establishment of Zabol Clinic, have started a medicine/medical equipment drive. Presently, through generous donations of local physicians, Children of Persia has collected medical equipment for Women clinic, Radiology and Cardiology unit and Medical Laboratory. This drive will be on going till our Zabol Clinic is built and well equipped.

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4. Food/Clothing Drive

Children of Persia will be donating food and clothing to the needy children and their families on a regular basis. This task will be accomplished in cooperation with Noor-e-Fadak, an NGO in Iran, which will distribute clothing and food to the needy families. In addition to Noor-e-fadak, Children of Persia will donate food and clothing for Norouz to other centers, which request help.

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5. Adopt A Road

Rockville/Gaithersburg, Maryland
Summer 2003

Children of Persia in pursuit of its active role in the community has volunteered to participates in the Adopt a Road program in its community. The portion of Road adopted by COP is located on Shady Grove Road between route 355 and route 270 in Rockville/Gaithersburg, Maryland.

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