Since the devastating earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northwest Syria, Caritas in Turkey has been organising its response.

Despite the small size, its staff distributed more than 17,500 meals in Iskenderun. An international mission of Caritas organisations went there to support and see the work on the field. Charel Krieps was there, here is his account.

We accompanied Sezar, one of the Caritas Turkey staff members, during his daily route. His Caritas van stops near some blue and white tents in a small street in the city of İskenderun. The tents have been erected on the pavement and have become the new home of a group of refugees from Syria. Their former home was destroyed in the earthquake.

Sezar opens the boot of the van and starts the distribution. Immediately a small group of people, most of them children, gather around the car. He and his colleagues open the two large cooking pods, one filled with bulgur whit, the other with tomato sauce with chickpeas. Each person waiting receives a plate with a generous portion, together with a piece of bread and some greens. And besides the food, Sezar also has some words, a smile or a joke for each of them.

These people are in a very difficult situation. We bring food to refugees from Syria, to elderly people or to families with small children – all together about 150 persons. Twice a day, six days a week.

Sezar, Caritas Turkey member of staff

The needs are enormous and people whose houses are damaged or destroyed need many different types of support. In addition to food, Caritas is distributing other items, such as clothes, blankets, sanitary pads, baby diapers, toothpaste and toothbrushes.

Caritas volunteers have also helped to distribute and set up tents for displaced families. But besides shelter, there is a great demand for medical assistance. So far, Caritas has provided 1,780 units of medicines and medical supplies – syrups for children, painkillers, diabetes and asthma medicines, probiotics, etc – in order to prevent people’s health from being affected by the lack of necessary treatments for chronic diseases.

Due to the earthquake’s impact on the public infrastructure, most schools in the area remain closed and children cannot attend class. For this reason, Caritas is organising educational activities with four volunteer teachers’ support for 24 pupils and students.

The most important thing that we can do for the people here is to be with them, to talk to them and to make them feel that they are not alone

A Caritas staff member in Anatolia

“They need somebody to stand with them so that they can, step by step, rebuild their lives. But of course, they also need our direct assistance. Many of the people escaped from their houses literally with nothing, just with the clothes they were sleeping in”, explains the same member of staff of Caritas in Anatolia.

All emergency relief actions are coordinated closely with the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and other relevant actors. Caritas Turkey also receives technical support from the wider Caritas confederation, including from Caritas Hellas, Caritas Italy, Caritas Luxembourg, Caritas Romania and Caritas Serbia, as well as from Caritas Europa and Caritas Internationalis.

Looking towards the future, Caritas Turkey will soon phase out its initial immediate relief response and is currently doing needs assessments in order to plan for longer-term support.