In one of the many donation collection points in the Turkish megalopolis, teams are busy, day and night, to send humanitarian aid packages to the millions of families affected by the earthquakes.
“Attention! We let it pass, thank you!” Between the piles of boxes and the rows of bags full to bursting, Cem, 25, struggles to find his way. A plastic plate in hand, he allows himself a lunch break with a group of volunteers, sitting on the floor in this local TIP (the Workers’ Party of Turkey), located in the heart of Kadıköy, on the shore east of Istanbul. Since the earthquakes of February 6, which killed more than 41,000 people in Turkey and Syria, the place has changed vocation and welcomes all the volunteers of the district. Among them, a large number of non-members of the extreme left party, who prepare packages there “seven days a week, 24 hours a day”, proudly repeat the volunteers.
On the morning of the earthquakes, Cem came out of the nearby theater, where he works, to offer his help. “I was told to come here right away”, remembers the young actor. For more than a week, he has been spending most of his time at the collection center. “I take care of the sorting of food products and clothes, he explains. I also helped the technical staff who went to the field, by providing tents and clothing.” For Cem, the days are long, but he can’t see himself doing anything else. “Here, at least, we don’t have time to look at our cell phones. The images that circulate on social networks hurt us a lot, mentally”entrusts the one who “can’t sleep anymore” since the disaster at the other end of the country. “We are all in a state of stress, we are only talking about an earthquake, he explains. When the tram passes at the bottom of the building, the vibrations startle everyone.”
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A few days after the tragedy, several earthquake survivors came to lend a hand. “We do everything not to treat them too much as victims, not to make them sad, Cem says. But it’s hard sometimes.” One of her friends, from Gaziantep in the disaster area, collapsed while packing parcels. “Her tears flowed into all the boxes she prepared”testifies the young man.
“I could no longer stay at home, I was suffocating”
At the beginning of the afternoon, several volunteers arrive for the relief. Like Birce, 28, an actress too. “All the theaters have lowered their curtains, the filming of series is suspended, explains the young woman. I have all the time in the world.” In the days following the earthquakes, as collection points opened in town halls, bars, football stadiums, Birce felt helpless at first, enduring the flood of staggering images on television. “I could no longer stay at home, I was suffocating”she recalls.
Her sister then took her to this political office converted into a warehouse, where she now gives “between eight and nine o’clock” of his time every day. Without humanitarian experience, the young woman has improvised planning manager. She ensures rotations and the proper distribution of tasks. An activity that allows her, too, to forget this traumatic collective tragedy for a while. “When I go home, I feel very unhappy again”, she says. Especially since the mobilization of volunteers across the country is far from superfluous.
“The earthquakes have caused so much destruction that the government is overwhelmed. On top of that, there has sometimes been a lot of incompetence on the part of the authorities. So, we act in addition.”
Birce, 28-year-old volunteer in Istanbulat franceinfo
Among the volunteers, the censorship of the social network Twitter for long hours after the earthquake still does not pass. “It was supposed to prevent misinformation, but above all it prevented helping the victims!”, chokes at the collection point. Because in the earthquake zone, social networks have also been used to guide rescuers and relay various calls. In Istanbul, they have also made it possible to rehouse hundreds of disaster victims in apartments made available.
Truck departures “night and day”
Going upstairs, volunteers are greeted by a strong smell of plastic. The fault is a large tarp taped to the floor of the main room, on which donations are sorted at full speed. Since the beginning of the mobilization, the large black rectangle has seen all kinds of products parade. “Since it was very cold the morning of the earthquake, we immediately said to ourselves that we had to send warm clothes, blankets, that kind of thing, relates Uraz Aydin, member of the central committee of the TIP. Then, we called our teams on site to better understand the needs of the people. Around him, the meeting room is filled with medicine boxes, empty jerry cans, stacks of boxes that graze the ceiling… While donations continue to pour in en masse, volunteers have to do more and more choice.
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“We now know that there is less need for clothes, explains Uraz Aydın. No need either to necessarily send prepared meals, because mobile kitchens have been installed everywhere. Over time, the volunteers learned to make “family packages”, to help four to five people for a week. Food, equipment, health… Each need has its box. The stamped “hygiene” packages all contain disinfectant, shampoo, wipes, packs of underwear for everyone… The boxes ready to go are stored in the entrance of a theater, located on the ground floor. pavement. “We have already managed to send more than 30 semi-trailersdetails Uraz Aydın. And vans come night and day to pick up the packages.”
To optimize humanitarian aid, and prevent trucks from leaving half-full, for example, several political parties have decided to act together, while coordinating with associations. Why put the oppositions in parentheses? Far from it, according to Uraz Aydın. “Just the fact that parties are obliged to come to the aid of the victims of the earthquake, which is surprising for us too, shows that there is an absence of the government and the state”, says the politician. For him, the “biggest natural disaster of the century” In the region, according to the words of the World Health Organization (WHO), on February 14, will inevitably leave a “tremendous trauma”. “It’s our own Chernobyl, he believes, referring to the nuclear accident that occurred in 1986 in what is now Ukraine. This is going to have consequences for years and years.”
“We will be there as long as necessary”
At the stroke of 3 p.m., a small truck parks, honking its horn in the neighboring alley. A dozen volunteers rush to welcome him, before setting up a human chain to load the aid boxes. In the middle of the parcels, a dozen thick white rolls pass from hand to hand: mortuary tissue, used to bury the deceased according to the Islamic rite. The volunteers seem to no longer pay attention to it. In about ten minutes, the van is ready to leave for a meeting point on the outskirts of Istanbul, where its load will be transferred to a larger truck. After a night on the road, he will reach Malatya, a city hard hit by the earthquakes.
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How long will these convoys be needed? “It will always be necessary to send hygiene products, for example, because they are very quickly consumed”, points out Mehmet Ali, a solid forty-something in charge of deliveries. For Uraz Aydin, “the nature of the needs will necessarily evolve” in the coming months. “More than the rescue, it will be necessary to allow the victims to continue to live and to rebuild their lives”, he points out. Among the priority issues, emergency accommodation should in particular be provided through the delivery of equipped containers.
In the meantime, in mid-February, volunteers from the Kadıköy district remain immersed in urgency. Some, like Cem, intend to commit 100% until the end of the month, “at least”. “The theaters are closed and no one is helping us, but that’s a problem for the next month”anticipates the actor. “We will be there as long as necessary”, promises his side Birce. Volunteers can count on the arrival of reinforcements, such as Cinar and Lidya, both 17, came as a couple to sort donations for the first time. “Many of our friends get involved in their town hall or in other places”explain the two high school students, adding that at their age, they do not yet have the means to give to associations. “But we can always wear things”they say with a smile.