Since the first day of the devastating earthquake that hit southern Türkiye and northern Syria, HÜDA PAR teams and coordination centers were established upon the call of the HÜDA PAR Chairman Zekeriya Yapıcıoğlu, and they continue to assist the citizens in the earthquake-damaged areas
As part of the ongoing efforts, Ahmet Karaarslan, a member of the HÜDA PAR Central Administrative Board, along with Hamdullah Er, President of the HÜDA PAR Youth Branch and their delegation, visited the earthquake victims in the tent cities in Hatay and its districts, which were among the most affected provinces by the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş. They listened to their complaints and requests and shared their pain.
"We are doing our best to heal our citizens' wounds"
Hamdullah Er, the President of the HUDA PAR Youth Branch, speaking on behalf of the HÜDA PAR delegation, thanked the NGOs working to meet the needs of the citizens in the earthquake zone.
Emphasizing that As HÜDA PAR, they have been on the field since the first day of the earthquake, Hamdullah Er said:
"We are trying to do our best like everyone else. We are doing our best to heal our citizens' wounds and make efforts. Especially today, together with our General Administrative Board member Ahmet Karaaslan, we visited some places in Hatay, Iskenderun, and Kırıkhan. Of course, there are some scenes we witnessed here, sometimes we were saddened, and sometimes we were delighted. That is, we were pleased to see that we united here, everyone came here to do something and did their best. We were pleased with this scene. There are many non-governmental organizations working here, trying to provide food to our citizens voluntarily. Especially today, we are in the coordination center of the Umut Kervanı Foundation and the Yetimler Foundation. They distribute hot meals in Iskenderun. I especially thank all non-governmental organizations that have shown their best efforts in the earthquake regions and places in this area, may Allah be pleased with them."
“The quality of services need to be improved a little more in these areas”
In terms of deficiencies, earthquake victims have made requests for themselves and Er emphasized that these deficiencies should be addressed by the authorities as soon as possible. "There are some issues that we have witnessed especially in the tent cities we visited. One of the main issues is hygiene. When we focus more on hygiene, we need to be more sensitive, especially toward women. Separate sinks and shower areas are needed for women. They have expressed their demands to us in this regard. In addition to that, there have been requests for containers for showers near the sinks. The quality of services in these areas needs to be improved. Mobile shower areas and sinks have been set up in the tent areas, but we saw that they were insufficient. In many places where they should have been set up, they were limited in number. Sick, disabled, and elderly people living in large tent cities cannot go there or access them. We want to convey these demands to the authorities through you. These problems need to be resolved," he said.
Hamdullah Er said, "Many NGOs provide meal services, but there is discomfort, especially in some areas due to eating the same type of food for 21 days. The citizens who conveyed their demands to us said that they could manage these situations as adults, but they had difficulty feeding their children the same food. They requested different meals and different types of food. On the other hand, we can see that there are some deficiencies in drinking water. In some places, there are problems with drinking water that need to be conveyed to the authorities. There are also deficiencies in showers and sinks related to water, and some problems with accessing water. We would like to express these demands through you."
After the visits, the delegation visited a soup kitchen set up in İskenderun, district of Hatay by the Hope Caravan Foundation, European Orphan Hand, Orphans Foundation, and IHO EBRAR to learn about their work.