April Update: Continued Response in Türkiye and Syria
Türkiye
Over the two months since the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye, Amity Foundation has continued to send aid to the survivors. Adiyaman, Hatay and Kahramanmaraş were the provinces that were the most severely impacted by the disaster. While Hatay and Kahramanmaraş were able to receive government and civilian aid, the people of Adiyaman were less fortunate due to their distance from other provinces and the small size of their city. Adiyaman had a population of about 635,000 before the quake, many of whom are now homeless, temporarily living in makeshift settlements provided by the local government. The survivors are forced to live from day to day, uncertain of when their homes can be rebuilt. Damage to infrastructure makes daily access to water and electricity difficult, especially in villages far from the big cities.
After carefully considering the reports from our local partner The Turkish-Chinese Friendship Association, Amity provided drinking water purification units to the K4 resettlement area in Adiyaman district. To ensure safe and sustainable operation, the water purifier was installed in a special container and covered by a one-year maintenance service.
In the video, President Kadir of the Turkish-Chinese Friendship Association explains that the units have with a daily purification capacity of up to 5 tonnes of water. The newly installed equipment can help meet the daily needs of hundreds of families in the resettlement area for clean drinking water, also helping to reduce public health problems. In addition, Amity also provided the temporary settlement site with 17 sets of various kitchen utensils such as rice cookers and electric teapots, as well as 2,000 sets of men’s and women’s underwear, and 500 pairs of adult and children’s socks.
To alleviate the problem of household water and electricity access, Amity provided 135 tons of fuel (wood) and 54,600 bottles of mineral water to remote villages in Adiyaman. In addition, 1,950 food packages were sent to local families, each including 1kg of rice, 1kg of dried wheat, 1kg of lentils, 1kg of dried beans, 500g of pasta, 500g of barley noodles, 1kg of flour, 500g of tea, 500g of olives, 830g of tomato paste, 1L of cooking oil, 1kg of sugar and 750g of salt.
To help households meet their sanitary needs, hygiene packages were distributed among the families totaling 5000 pieces of sanitary napkins, 2000 pieces of diapers, 2000 pieces of paper towels, 1660 pieces of underwear, etc. 2,000 bottles of shampoo, 2,400 bags of laundry detergent, 10,000 toothbrushes and 2,000 bottles of hand sanitizer.
Syria
As part of the ACT Alliance, Amity continues to support fellow member organizations in providing aid to Syria. Recently, GOPA-DERD is providing psychological first aid to children, while HEKS-EPER is helping restore food security to the region through rebuilding local bakeries.
Amity Foundation (HK) continues to appeal for support in aiding Turkiye and Syria. In close collaboration with the students of Li Po Chun United World College, a series of events have been held to raise money for and maintain public awareness on the crisis. These include a Zoom exchange meeting with ACT Alliance representative, cycling and hiking challenges, fundraising at a local concert and hosting a Q&A session with members of the HK Fire Services Department who were involved in rescue work in Turkiye.
More recently, LPC student Hatano Asuka was inspired by her fellow Syrian student to undertake a 100km running challenge over the Easter holidays, with a further challenge planned in the near future:
“I was deeply moved by a photo of a man among the debris, holding the hand of his daughter who had passed away. Seeing the scenes of suffering and the appeals for help by Alima, my friend from Syria, made me reflect on what I could do to help. So, I decided to run. 100 km. Over a week. Even as a person who loves running, the challenge seemed almost impossible. However, I just kept running, imagining the pain people were undergoing and wishing I could contribute in any way. Rain, wet mud on the trail, physical and mental fatigue… I wish for the well-being of people affected by the earthquake, and will continue taking on challenges.”
