By Angelo Conti | Specchio dei tempi
One year after the earthquake in Turkey
Specchio dei tempi's commitment
First the discotheque turned into an emergency dormitory, then the Aina village in Antioch, the prefabricated houses in Latakia in Syria, thousands and thousands of food parcels, health care, even specialised health care, support for those still living in tents.
What shook the province of Antioch in Turkey and the northernmost part of Syria exactly one year ago was one of the most violent earthquakes (magnitude 7.7) ever recorded in the world. The combination of two tremors within a very short period of time makes it the most destructive ever recorded. As evidenced by the estimated 57,000 dead (hundreds of bodies have not yet been recovered under the piles of rubble).
The consequence of the double quake was the almost widespread collapse of all kinds of buildings over an area of a hundred kilometres in diameter, and major damage throughout the region. Specchio dei tempi immediately took action by launching a subscription that raised €526.391.
The very first phase of the intervention was aimed at finding shelter for some 500 displaced persons in Defne, a suburb of Antioch, also in view of the harsh winter temperatures. Among the very few artefacts that remained intact was a discotheque-wedding hall, which had withstood the tremors thanks to its reinforced concrete construction and its single-storey development. It was rented out and converted into a dormitory for displaced persons and a base of operations for the supply of medicines, clothes, foodstuffs and comforts. At the same time, a canteen was opened and, shortly afterwards, an outdoor facility was built as an after-school/leisure centre. Also in an emergency, a project was identified for the construction of prefabricated buildings in neighbouring Syria, near the city of Latakia: here, given the restrictions placed by the local government on the intervention of Western bodies, it was decided to operate through the Swiss NGO Terres des Hommes.
The solution of the former Antioch discotheque could not be definitive and so, in agreement with the Turkish government, an earthquake village was built in the hills west of the old town. Here, 65 container-houses were built, each able to accommodate one family. Today there are more than 250 guests in the village (which the people wanted to call ‘Aina’, which means Mirror (Specchio) in Turkish, in recognition of the foundation's efforts). Here too, a canteen has been set up, a camp kitchen installed and a food store opened, as well as a clinic for medical and dental examinations and treatment.
Alongside the management of the village Aina has also developed an activity to support those who still have no roof: ‘The cold and rain make life dramatic for those who still live in tents,’ explains Josuè Jimenez, who leads the Remar volunteers on behalf of Specchio dei tempi, ‘especially because the water turns the base of the tents into mud. It is therefore necessary to create a kind of light flooring that acts as an effective cavity with the outside. This is while waiting for everyone to have a roof, precarious as you like but at least able to protect from the rain'.
In the coming months, the main focus of Specchio dei tempi's activities will be in the village of Aina: setting up the canteen, preparing meals for displaced people (using the camp kitchen), managing the after-school activities and the play area, and providing daily medical and nursing services, while in the rest of the area it will continue to distribute hundreds of food parcels every week to the many families still living in tents. The foundation has the resources to guarantee these activities until the end of the summer. Any further donations will make it possible to extend assistance in an area where the homeless still number in the hundreds of thousands and where the resumption of a normal life will certainly take many years.
By Giuliana Girino | Communication and Fundraising leader
By Giuliana Girino | Communication and Fundraising leader
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