ISTANBUL 

An official from a global charity group said the world should learn lessons about how to respond to suffering as she praised the response of Turks in the aftermath of powerful earthquakes. 

“The way the people of Türkiye had responded to this crisis, is really commendable, extremely highly respectable because they are responding with dignity, and they are responding with hope, they are responding through this crisis with positivity,” Human Concern International (HCI) Executive Director Mahmuda Khan told Anadolu.

“You don’t see the country is falling apart, it’s still holding … the people we talked --they all are very positive, still hopeful, still holding their head up, chin up,” she said. “This is an example for the world to follow that when a crisis happens, everyone could come together, and spread hope and do work together in collaboration for rebuilding.”

HCI, the oldest Muslim relief charity in Canada, has raised around CAN$2.5 million ($1.85 million) for Türkiye and Syria. The ongoing campaign is being carried out on digital and online platforms. Brand ambassadors, social media influencers and donors are all coming forward to donate and collect funds. Turkish actor Engin Altan Duzyatan is also assisting HCI with fundraising.

The organization plans to move to the second phase of assistance, after providing emergency relief such as food, water, shelter and medical aid to victims.

“We want to send people back to their homes. So, it’s either through renovating, rebuilding homes or giving cash assistance so that they are able to pay their rent, buy the supplies they need and return home,” she said, explaining the second phase that emphasizes the return of displaced people to their homes and to help children go back to school.

If funds and donations continue to pour in, HCI would want to implement a third phase -- rebuild the infrastructure of the community, renovate hospitals, restore roads as well provide traumatic recovery and psychological support.

Khan said she will be in Türkiye during the weekend where she will meet authorities in Istanbul and Ankara to discuss relief efforts, long-term plans and assistance required. She will also visit Gaziantep province, where HCI has partnered with the Turkish NGO International Association for Relief and Development (ONSUR) to conduct operations on the ground.

Regarding the scale of the disaster, Khan said it is devastating and massive and from the damages, it seems it would require years of collaboration with NGOs and government agencies to set things right.

Disaster-hit countries where HCI has worked were mostly affected by floods --such as Pakistan, India and Bangladesh -- where infrastructure was not damaged to the level caused by quakes. But in Türkiye’s earthquakes, millions have lost homes and rebuilding will take a long time.

At least 43,556 people have been killed by the 7.7- and 7.6-magnitude quakes, which were centered in Kahramanmaras. They struck 10 other provinces. About 13.5 million people have been affected.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the quakes that struck in the space of fewer than 10 hours. Condolences have poured in from around the world expressing solidarity with Türkiye, with many countries sending rescue teams and aid.

-‘It felt the world was coming to an end’

Canadian Muslim influencer and manager at HCI, Hassan Wadi, who visited affected areas days after the quake struck, said he was shocked by the level of destruction.

“It felt like a movie,” he said. “I felt like I was in a horror movie … It felt the world was coming to an end. It felt like judgment day, really.”

Wadi, along with an American Muslim influencer, spent three days in the Islahiye district of Gaziantep. They distributed blankets and warm clothes, cooked meals and connected with families to listen to their needs.

He recalled families waiting for rescue workers to clear debris from collapsed buildings hoping to find life -- an image that has stuck with him.

“When we went to visit a site and the rescue workers were in the process of looking for survivors and all the families were on the side, waiting, waiting to hear the news. This was very traumatic and sad. A huge group of families, waiting for their fate, waiting to find out whether their family members were alive or not,” said Wadi.

The influencer, who stayed at a mosque during his visit, said despite people losing everything, they were still smiling and grateful. On his return home, he continues to remain in touch with families he met.

-‘Strong people’

American social media influencer Syed Abdul Rahman, who accompanied Wadi to quake-hit areas, said he was touched by the resilience of the people who were affected.

“If this had happened in America, we would not have survived. It happened to these strong people. And they are so strong when you meet," he told Anadolu on Zoom.

Rahman, who was also moved by witnessing the strong belief of the people about their faith, said he met a 9-year-old boy who was staying at the mosque after he lost his home but continued to read the Quran and attend Quran class online.

Rahman, from the city of Chicago, owns an Arabic calligraphic and Islamic decor wall art company. He raised half-a-million dollars for HCI and plans to contribute toward assistance for victims for as long as he can.

Rahman has been to Türkiye before and praises its beauty. The current images of destruction and collapsed buildings made him sad.

“It was very, very sad. There was destruction everywhere. I felt very bad,” he said, recalling that he found shoes and the strollers of children in the rubble of a site and was hoping and praying that the residents made it out without any harm.