It's been a week since two major earthquakes hit southeastern Turkey and northern Syria. Details of the scale of loss after those quakes is still emerging. The Associated Press reports the latest death toll from the quakes grew to 33,185 and will likely continue to grow as crews find more people killed in the rubble. Millions more people have been displaced.
The international community is rushing to send aid, some of which is coming from the Bay Area.
The Northern California Turkish American Association packed up more than 200 boxes Sunday in East Palo Alto to send to Turkey. The supplies, donated since Wednesday, have been tightly packed and labeled in Turkish for easy access once they reach their destination.
"We will be focusing on tents, sleeping bags, baby formula, diapers and feminine products,” explained Nalan Ozisik, the president of the Northern California Turkish American Association.
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Ozisik explained that this is all part of an ongoing effort where the U.S. Turkish Embassy is working with local nonprofits to get donations to Turkey via Turkish Airlines flights. The Bay Area group has been coordinating with the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles which noted that on Saturday around 20 tons of donations from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle were shipped to Turkey.
Ozisik said Sunday's donations in East Palo Alto will be driven to San Francisco International Airport where a Turkish Airlines flight is scheduled to take them to Turkey on Monday.
“We went through every single box to make sure every single item is clean, is in tip top shape,” she added.
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“Maybe a child will open a box that has toys," Ozisik imagined as she fought back tears. "Even if one single item reaches the right person, we are OK with it.”
The hope is that these donations will make it to Turkey in time to help earthquake survivors who are also contending with harsh winter weather.
In Turkey, people are still being rescued from piles of debris, though hopes of finding more survivors alive are fading.
In northwestern Syria, which was also devastated by the quakes, aid groups are urging for more international help. The United Nations has also acknowledged an international failure to help Syrian quake victims.
“It’s a catastrophe, it really is,” said Elif Eser of San Jose, who was in East Palo Alto Sunday helping to load boxes of donations. Eser moved to the Bay Area from Turkey a few years ago.
After hearing about the earthquakes, she went looking for ways to help and brought her friends to join in packing supplies in East Palo Alto.
“I’m grateful for everybody, there are a lot of necessitates that were sent over,” Eser said of the donated supplies.
While focus is on the earthquake aftermath now, Eser and many of her fellow volunteers are hoping the international community continues to provide aid for Turkey and Syria, as the need will be immense and long term.
Eser noted that many of the families impacted by the quakes face a daunting reality, "all of their homes [are] lost, nobody can go back into their buildings, so everything needs to be built from scratch.”
Those looking to help out with the Turkish American Association of California relief effort can go to this website for more information.
