On the ground: The humanitarian base serves as a lifeline

HATAY, Türkiye — We started in another Syrian camp where there is a lot of health care needs and the police came and told us to leave.

We still seem to not have permission to help the neediest which are the Syrian refugees.

We packed up and went back to the base. Then we connected with the town mayor who welcomed us to work at a Turkish camp .

In 2 days we treated over 175 people. There is a need but these folks are in far better shape then the Syrians. It is really upsetting to see this blatant disparity of services.

But , we know this as the plight of refugees who have told us for many years they are invisible.

Most Turkish people are still living in tents or (International Organization For Standardization) ISO boxes and some able to briefly go into a damaged house to use a shower and get out quick. Again there is tremendous damage everywhere and even the few buildings that look OK from one angle have huge cracks and sagging. Again, yesterday we heard a body was found.

We heard some hard stories: One woman with infected wounds on her legs had been under the rubble for 4 days before being rescued. Her immediate family survived but she lost other relatives. Everyone has had losses.

People cry, need hugs and handholding as they try and find a way forward.

The health issues seem to be related to the toxic dust, many people have respiratory issues and are using asthma medications. We wonder what a lung X-ray would look like and what, and if, there is permanent lung damage.

Also many, many skin issues again from sweat and toxic dust?

We are not sure here, but so many rashes . Some are scabies, rampant in tent living. These rashes cause intense itching, welts and some get infected from scratching — miserable nighttime itching in the sweltering tents and boxes.

All the hospitals in Hatay were damaged and the main hospital (was) a total collapse. To date, 7 months later, one hospital has just reopened, so people are still in need of all medical care.

A similarity of all these disasters, (Turkey), Morocco, Libya, Maui, fires in our countries is (what we have read) about this for a week or two, it pulls our heart strings, we send immediate aid and then soon we are on to another.

What we often don’t understand is the aftermath is YEARS and YEARS of recovery with tremendous needs for support in all sectors. Not just rebuilding of infrastructure and homes, but health care facilities, schools, office, government buildings.

Here most children have not returned to school. The schools are collapsed or damaged. Many people have lost places of businesses and lost jobs so no money for food, clothing medication.

There is the physical healing of wounds; the diseases that come from toxic dust which create lifelong debilitating health issues, the health result of inability to get your diabetes medication or cardiac meds because the pharmacies were destroyed and the supply chain is broken.

Then there is the process of putting your life back together with no resources. And PTSD which is still a current traumatic stress.

The immensity of the task to recovery takes years and are overwhelming.

Here at our humanitarian aid base there is still a food distribution program; nightly meals for 1,500 people living nearby in tents.

Bread is handed out on the streets by volunteers here, kids come here for games and art led by another volunteer group. A few intense soccer games in the courtyard have resulted in several scraped knees.

These programs bring relief and smiles. The people who come for food always hug us and greet us with “Thank you.”

This humanitarian base is a lifeline.