Cape Town - A humanitarian organisation from Cape Town, Hope For You Foundation, which partnered with the Al MO’EEN Foundation, returned to Cape Town on Tuesday after assisting with the Türkiye and Syria relief project.
It has been more than two months since two earthquakes killed more than 50 000 people and injured 100 000 in Türkiye and Syria.
After the 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes, the focus has now shifted to providing essential support for the survivors.
The organisation spent six days on the ground, moving from one place to another.
Going to Türkiye, Hope For You spokesperson Aslam Dawood said everything was pre-arranged.
They were in contact with the Deniz Feneri Foundation on that side, informing them about what they would like to do, based on funding.
On arrival everything was done, with food hampers and children’s boxes ready.
“The situation in both places was worse than we expected. Upon our arrival we immediately came across the destruction and damage, with heartache and pain evidently clear in the eyes of those people that have now been set up in tents on the roads, parking areas and on the field,” Dawood said.
“The everyday poverty/lifestyle is very hard. As South Africans we complain about load shedding; in Syria they don’t even know what light is to switch on, and there’s no running water.”
The organisation spent five days in Türkiye before travelling over the border to Syria for one day, then back to Türkiye.
Distributing hampers and treasure boxes, the organisation stopped at Istanbul to Gaziantep then on to Rieanle (near Syrian border) before crossing over into Syrian refugee camps, then back to Hattay (second earthquake site).
When asked whether they saw change before they left, Dawood highlighted that with extensive damages experienced, they never got to be in the same place more than once to witness the change but the government is actively doing a lot for its people.
“The damage was so extensive that in six days we were in different areas, we hardly came back to the very same place we started at,” he said.
Dawood sent gratitude on behalf of the foundation.
“I want to say a big thank you to the people of Cape Town and South Africa. The response that we got was so overwhelming, we really did not expect to have that amount of donations and support but the people of Cape Town came through and I take my hat off to them,” he said.