Earthquake emergency: why fundraising matters
Fatma Tuptuk, a nurse at The Royal London, writes about how her village in Turkey has been affected by the devastating earthquakes and how you can help.
Although born and raised in the UK, my parents moved from Turkey in the early 90s. Growing up most summers were spent in the village that my parents grew up in surrounded by the impressive mountains and springs. My family follow a long line of farmers who grow everything from cotton to pistachios to famous Maras peppers. These summers surrounded by family and friends were always great fun. It was an opportunity to meet with cousins and extended family from around Europe who had migrated for a number of different reasons.
As many of you will be aware, on 6 February a catastrophic earthquake hit Turkey and Syria. This was followed by several aftershocks with a further earthqake recorded on 20 February.
A beautiful village reduced to rubble
My family’s, once picturesque village, is in the province of Pazarcik which is in Kahramanmaras. It was heavily impacted as it was the epicentre of the earthquake and is now mostly rubble.
Sadly, many of my relatives and friends of family have died. Due to the impact and scale of the earthquake there's not been the time and space to give them a dignified burial.
My cousin and her two daughters were thankfully rescued after being trapped under rubble for over 89 hours. From London and elsewhere we had to make a lot of noise and call many people to get help and machinery to Pazarcik to start the rescue efforts and ensure they were rescued. Due to the amount of time it took for help to arrive after close to seven days my cousin’s husband's body was pulled out from under the rubble. There are still many missing people that need to be recovered from under the same collapsed buildings and this is the case for many families in the region.
We are grateful to everyone that is helping, especially those working very hard on the ground. Conditions are extremely difficult, they have continued to work to save more lives and repatriate bodies with loved ones.
Please help if you can
I have been busy trying to help people in Turkey, but in our neighbouring country there is also desperate need for help. Syria is not only war torn but now devastated because of the earthquake.
Whilst we each have lots going on in our lives I would be most grateful if we can raise awareness for those in Syria and where you can support the White Helmets.
I have set up a fundraising page for those in my hometown and although donations would be extremely welcome, please only donate if you are able to, I know that the current times are financially difficult for many.