Earthquake Response: Back Local Non-Profits
After ten years of war, I still cannot understand what happened. We are all facing an ‘After-Earthquake Syndrome’ — it feels like the wall is coming on our heads. We dont have any mitigation pathways as we usually have during bombing and shellings — we have to save lives and our families!
30 year-old humanitarian who lives in Gaziantep and is in Northwest Syria now. He has worked in the humanitarian response since 11 years.
Our worlds have been turned upside down since the major earthquake hit Turkey and Syria. On Sunday evening, during dinner, our consultant, based in Gaziantep, texted that she and her cat were out in the snow after 4 am local time. Shortly after, we received notes from partners across the affected region as far as Lebanon. While she has been successfully evacuated, thousands of others still are in dire need of help! Over 37,000 people have lost their lives, and millions lack access to health care, housing, and essentials.
It is hard to describe what we have heard and seen five days into the response. Many first responders we spoke to in the last few days were in a state of shock. Despite losing family and friends, they miraculously continue coordinating difficult logistics and conducting life-saving search and rescue missions. However, our partners have started to share their exhaustion and difficulties in managing their fears as they have just witnessed the traumatic earthquake. Many struggle to support others while their families are affected, living in their cars and makeshift shelters as there have been more than 300 aftershocks at high magnitudes. Each time an aftershock hits, new buildings collapse over people.
As the chair of the board of Choose Love and co-founder and director of the Global Whole Being Fund (GWBF), I feel privileged to channel my sadness, fear, and concerns into action. In moments like this, we do what we are best placed to do: identify local responders, vet them, and resource them as quickly as we can without compromising the required diligence. Local non-profits are closest to the issue, know the context best, and offer effective and cost-efficient solutions in moments like these! However, they receive 0.4% of the globally available funding, especially during emergencies like earthquakes.
Thanks to Choose Love’s consistent support to displaced communities and families at the Turkish-Syrian border, we were able to move half a million dollars in less than 12 hours. Existing and new partners responded immediately and asked us to resource them as they need fuel, search and rescue equipment to continue saving lives, medical kits, and more. Today — in less than five days, Choose Love has committed $2,600,000 to 22 local organizations across affected regions. You can access the breakdown on our socials here.
We are currently speaking to more local organizations on the ground to make further commitments and need to raise an additional $2,000,000. Our partners asked for more funding for fuel (for search and rescue and heating), search and rescue equipment, WASH, shelter, food, non-food items (NFI), and medical supplies (including trauma kits).
Follow us here, and please consider donating to the campaign — no amount is too little, and true power lies in collective action!!!
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Choose Love funds refugees and other forcibly displaced people equitably across more than 23 countries. We are a trusted intermediary that ensures funding reaches local organizations and the most vulnerable communities in hard-to-reach areas. We put people’s survival and dignity first and fund basic needs, including search and rescue, shelter, food, mental and medical aid, pediatric care, and long-term needs. We currently work with more than 200 nonprofit organizations closest to the issues.
