On the 12th of Farvardin, approximately three months and ten days after the Bam earthquake, the city remains buried under heavy rubble. A city that has lost at least half its population cannot breathe. Yet according to Mr. Engineer Reza Ashk, the Deputy for Construction and Planning of the Governorate, the flow of people arriving and settling in the city continues. Some of this population comes from the outskirts and surrounding villages — people who had previously lived off the city during its lifetime — and others are perhaps relatives, acquaintances, and workers from the gardens and orchards who have come seeking aid.

Of the 15,000 people remaining, approximately 5,000 are new arrivals. According to the engineer, the outlook of the remaining population has not changed. The same tribal, clannish attitudes and narrow-minded perspectives persist. The corrupt system of governance still stands, and these people remain the same. At first glance, one might think the city has started to breathe again — to begin life anew with the aid of the help and equipment pouring in. But this impression, in the general picture of the city where the air is stagnant, is nothing more than an illusion — a scene more painful than the earthquake itself.

The shops that have sprung up again are themselves the most painful sight — new shops and a few residential structures set within a graveyard-like expanse. The work of reconstruction, wherever it has begun, is being carried out in the same old fashion. Entrepreneurs and merchants of the construction industry have descended upon the city. Cement, steel, clay blocks, and other building materials are being stockpiled. The construction that began on the 23rd of Bahman by bazaar merchants demonstrates their enterprising spirit. At the time of the earthquake on the 5th of Dey, measuring 9.5 on the Richter scale, approximately 44,000 people perished. One cannot even be certain of this figure, as some estimate that part of the city's missing population — approximately 20,000 people — were garden workers and date-pickers who had come from Sistan and Baluchestan and other parts of the country. These were people whose loss went unrecorded, having arrived in Bam merely hours before the earthquake struck.

Among the structures that survived, buildings with at least partial bracing or those that used metal profiles did not collapse entirely and caused fewer casualties. But in most buildings, the collapse occurred due to the use of unsuitable mortars, with bricks coming apart one by one from their bonds.

What does the editor believe can be done to address the immediate deficiencies? The shortage of personnel and equipment, both government and private, for a devastated population that has lost its livelihood and seen its social fabric torn apart — how can this be resolved?

Within the framework of reconstruction, the shortage of skilled workers, architects, and urban planners remains acute. In the absence of this workforce, and in the face of existing tribal and factional tensions, rebuilding the city's social fabric is perhaps the greater challenge. The Engineering Organization has dispatched a technical control group on the ground, but existing processes are slow and inadequate for rebuilding a city from scratch.

Several humanitarian and professional groups from inside and outside the country have come forward. Workshops and field schools, initiatives by universities and architecture students — some in the realm of design, others focused on practical training for locals — are among the ongoing efforts. If even a fraction of these activities bear fruit, and if the lessons from this earthquake are documented and disseminated through scholarly and practical channels, then Bam — this historic jewel of Iran and of humanity — can be a wellspring of learning. An architect must always keep before their eyes the duty of building for the safety and welfare of their fellow citizens.