Church adds new projects to earthquake relief efforts in Türkiye

Distribution of food boxes, hygiene items and bottled water as well as a special delivery of new baby clothes in time for a traditional Muslim holiday are among the new and ongoing humanitarian efforts sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the five months following the devastating Feb. 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

The new projects focus on needs and relief in Turkey and are coordinated with the Turkish state disaster management agency AFAD.

Elder Robin F. Eliud, Counselor in the Central European Presidency, was grateful to see the Church’s firm commitment to helping earthquake victims.

“This merciful aid embodies the Church’s dedication to following the teachings of Jesus Christ, that everyone should care for those in need,” said Elder Eliud at the inauguration of a newly rebuilt area of ​​an earthquake-damaged hospital in Gaziantep, Turkey. “Through these efforts, the Church continues to demonstrate its heartfelt mission of providing relief to those facing adversity.”

Dr. Umit Meltu Triac, second from left, director of the Ministry of Health in Gaziantep, Turkey, is joined by Elder Rubin F. Eliud of the Presidency of the Central European Region at the opening of a reconstructed part of a hospital in Gaziantep, Turkey, on June 22, 2023. Sister Carla Huber and Elder Peter Huber, Center, Missionaries of Care of the Church are also involved.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes, Christian Oetker, Director of Wellbeing and Self-Reliance in Central Europe said, “We stand firm in our commitment to alleviate suffering, preserve human dignity and bring hope to all those affected. In coordination with the government and with the help of many other aid organisations, we have a responsibility to provide aid to shattered communities.”

He added that, under the direction of the region’s presidency, “we remain committed to standing by the Turkish people, and offering a helping hand on the path of recovery and restoration.”

The latest update on the Church’s relief projects and efforts was posted on the UK Newsroom website on Thursday 20 July.

water distribution

One of the new projects is distributing bottled water to affected residents, with the church estimating that 5 million 1.5-liter bottles will be delivered over a two-month period.

The first six daily truckloads of 16,800 water bottles were loaded on June 19 in Malatya, from a natural spring water source there in one of the earthquake-affected areas in Turkey.

Erkenek has been working eight hours a day delivering bottled water as part of a project sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Turkey in the summer of 2023. The water will go to those still affected by the February 6, 2023 earthquake.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Trucks deliver bottled water to different warehouses of AFAD in four cities of the most affected regions – Adiyaman, Hatay and Kahramanmaras along with Malatya. From the warehouses, the water is distributed to the camps where thousands of affected families and individuals live.

Contact centers set up by the Disaster and Food Department in each of the four major cities receive daily requests from camps and containers in nearby areas and coordinate the delivery of water, food and other items within 24 hours.

Extra food boxes, toiletries

Another project is distributing 100,000 food boxes and 200,000 hygiene kits, and continuing to supply these items since early after the earthquakes. With the latest effort starting in June and a similar pattern in place for distribution to affected areas through disaster and emergency management facilities, the first truck of 2,184 food boxes left in the first week of July.

The trucks can hold about 50% more hygiene kits – 3,000 units – at one time.

Food boxes contain basic items such as sugar, salt, rice, different types of beans, bulgur (boiled and dried wheat), pasta, jam, sunflower oil and tomato paste.

Hygiene kits include soaps, detergents, toilet paper, sanitary ware, toiletries, and adult underwear, among others.

Local employment assistance

All items are sourced and purchased locally, which not only helps the local economy but also allows for more people to be employed.

With so many people not only losing their homes and property but their jobs, the church and social welfare service representatives have looked for ways to give people new job opportunities where possible, said Elder Peter Huber and Sister Carla Huber, a full-time humanitarian couple from Switzerland who are based at the church headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany.

For example, when ordering water, the church involved a company affected by the earthquake, which repaired the damage, involved more people and was grateful to the church’s large system, Hubers said.

In Turkey, 50,000 children were given two pairs of shorts and three T-shirts each on June 28, 2023 – the day of Sacrifice, an Islamic holiday. The new clothing was one of several projects for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to help those still affected after the February 6, 2023 earthquake in Turkey.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Children’s clothing and “Eid al-Adha”

The church helps donate new children’s clothes in conjunction with the Bayram celebration – or the feast of sacrifice. It is one of the oldest Islamic holidays in Türkiye.

The celebration commemorates Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham)’s obedience to God through willingness to sacrifice his son. Then God spared Isaac’s life by sending a ram to be sacrificed instead.

Eid al-Adha occurs about 70 days after Eid Ramadan, and in Turkey has evolved into a family celebration. Instead of sacrificing animals, individuals make donations to the poor and to charities.

Also, it is customary to wear the best clothes during the holiday, and children traditionally expect to receive a new set of clothes as a gift. The damage and losses resulted in the inability of most families in the affected areas to obtain a way or means to purchase such clothes, so the Central European Presidency directed the provision of 50,000 bags that included clothes of eight sizes for children for both boys and girls.

Church service volunteers and Latter-day Saints living in Turkey helped collect, sort, and distribute the clothing. The project was completed and delivered on time to celebrate the holiday on June 28 this year.

Bundles of clothes – supplied, sorted and packed in part by The Church of Jesus Christ and its members – await distribution at AFAD Turkish warehouses in the summer of 2023. The clothes are being delivered to individuals and families affected by the February 6, 2023 earthquake in Turkey.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

adaptation

Another new project is the supply of 5,000 air conditioning units to be installed in residential containers that many families use as temporary homes.

With summer temperatures outside between 40 and 50 °C (104 to 122 F), conditions inside the temporary homes are extreme.

AFAD orders 50,000 air conditioning units, installation is done by local supplier and other companies. The project is expected to be completed within the next several weeks.

Residential containers for medical and health staff

Another new project sponsored by the church is the construction and distribution of 50 housing containers for the health and medical workers working in the main hospital in Antakya, in the Hatay region. The containers include 2 single bedrooms, 2 toilets and an AC unit.

The project is being implemented in cooperation with the Turkish Ministry of Health and will be completed this month.

This photo is the third of five mobile hospitals – this one in Payas in Turkey’s Hatay Province – donated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the aftermath of the earthquakes that hit Turkey on February 6, 2023.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Other projects are nearing completion

A number of relief projects launched by the church shortly after the earthquakes in February are now nearing completion.

The last five emergency mobile hospitals provided by the Church were set up in Altinuzu, Hatay Province, and opened their doors on June 22. It joins similar facilities in the three cities of Hatay, Erzin, Bayas, Yayladagi and Oguzeli in Gaziantep Province.

Medical staff working in mobile hospitals previously worked in hospital facilities rendered useless or dangerous due to earthquake damage in the affected areas.

When the mobile hospitals are no longer needed in emergencies, they will be stored at a central facility in Turkey, ready to be deployed to other regions of the country as needed.

Inside the examination room at a mobile clinic donated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after the February 6, 2023 earthquake in Turkey.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

A project to supply 500 housing containers for earthquake-displaced people and families is nearing completion, with 434 units already installed in several camps around Antakya and the remaining 66 units by the end of the month.

Containers are used to house families in better conditions, gradually replacing camps.

The rehabilitation of Dr. Ersin Arslan Teaching and Research Hospital in Gaziantep, which used to receive 2,000 patients per day before the earthquakes, was also recently completed. Extensive damage resulted in the evacuation of most of the hospital, and patients and earthquake victims were sent to other overburdened hospitals.

New waiting and operating rooms at Dr. Ersin Aslan Teaching and Research Hospital in Gaziantep, Turkey, summer 2023.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

At the invitation of Mercy International, an NGO that provides relief care and support around the world, church district leaders decided to provide funds to help rebuild and renovate the first and second basement floors of the hospital, which were able to accommodate and treat additional patients.

Elder Alliaud co-opened the two additional floors on June 22, with appreciation for the local businesses involved in the construction work to be able to restart their businesses and provide much-needed jobs to the area.

Mercy Global presents at the opening of the reconstructed basement at Dr. Ersin Arslan Teaching and Research Hospital in Gaziantep, Turkey on June 22, 2023. The church helped restore the two levels that were inoperable after the devastating earthquakes of February 6, 2023 in Turkey and Syria.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

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