Grief experts offer 'guidance and help' to Edmonton's Iranian community

Friends and family of those killed in Wednesday's plane crash in Iran will need support and sensitivity over the coming weeks and months, says funeral director Salwa Kadri.

"We have to be sensitive to them," said Kadri, funeral director with Islamic funeral society at Al Rashid Mosque. "We want to create a helping relationship with the families. They look at us for guidance and help."

Kadri has done this before. She helped an Edmonton family deal with the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash in March 2019.

• 31 Albertans believed dead in Iran plane crash
• What we know about the Iran plane crash victims who were headed to Canada

She told CBC's Edmonton AM on Thursday it takes time for people to deal with a loss of this magnitude.  

"I learned that a family has to react to loss," she said. "Whether it's spiritually, emotionally, personally, physically, they have to react."

31 Albertans believed to have been killed

The crash of a Kyiv-bound Boeing 737 outside Tehran on Wednesday killed 176 passengers and crew. Sixty-three people on the plane were Canadian, 31 of them from Alberta, mostly from the Edmonton area.

Kadri said she likely won't be providing funeral services for most families, since Al Rashid is a Sunni mosque. Most Iranians are Shias, another branch of Islam, she said.

But Kadri will provide any support she can to help the community grieve.

She won't be alone.

Sogand Zakerhaghighi, a health and wellness coach, said many in Edmonton's Iranian community will need culturally sensitive support. 

That's why Zakerhaghighi,  who has a master's degree in counselling, is offering grief coaching to people in both English and Farsi. She is asking people to reach out to her through her Instagram account.

Grief coaching, Zakerhaghighi said, focuses on "what happened right now" as opposed to counselling, which she said "looks at past traumas." 

She thinks people in the Edmonton community could benefit from grief coaching.

"The Iranian community has been in kind of an anxiety situation right now, because of what's going on between them and other international forces," she told Edmonton AM Thursday. 

"You need to understand that, to be able to support them. It's not just a plane crash. People have other worries, other anxieties, when it comes to grief. They all come together."

Zakerhaghighi knew two people killed in Wednesday's crash through connections at the University of Alberta. 

At least 10 of the victims had ties to the University of Alberta, according to the school's president and vice-chancellor David Turpin.

The university is offering students, staff and faculty "counselling and other services," Turpin said in a statement posted to the university's website.

Kadri said it could take weeks or months funerals are held for those killed in the plane crash. 

When one of us is hurting, the rest of us is hurting as well.​​​​​- Sogand Zakerhaghighi, grief coach

She said those who are grieving should seek help. 

"The one thing that I can just tell them is, just don't wait until this stress builds up. Seek help, seek counselling, see people around you and talk about it."

A vigil was held at the Alberta legislature Wednesday evening to honour those killed in the crash. 

Many reflected on the affect this will have on Edmonton's Iranian community. 

Zakerhaghighi said she was not close to any of those killed in the plane crash, but she still grieves with her community.

"Although we are not all like best friends with each other, we all know someone who knows somebody. It's that kind of a community. So honestly, when one of us is hurting, the rest of us are hurting as well."