Volunteers complain about the “bear” aid to the victims of the earthquake in Turkey

It would seem that voluntary assistance, like a gift horse, is not looked in the mouth. But not in a situation where people’s house collapsed and there are solid ruins around. When the bare necessities are not available, the well-worn sequined dress and high-heeled shoes sent as help really look like a mockery. A team of Russian activists in Turkey issued a memo for the Russian-speaking community on how NOT to help, since such help is only harmful.

We asked what could be a disservice not only to the victims of the earthquake, but also to volunteers working on the rubble.

“A huge number of people who wanted to help went to the region affected by the earthquake,” Turkish newspapers report. Russian-language chats are also full of selfless messages like: “We are personally leaving for the earthquake region.” But instead of the expected approval, they irritate professional rescuers and organized volunteers.

– Here’s how you can go somewhere without first asking how exactly you need to help in such cases? What do you need to know? How to behave in seismic zones? – outraged compatriots coordinating the collection of assistance from the Russian-speaking community in Turkish cities. – Yes, not only professional rescuers from 30 countries of the world work on the ground, but also volunteers. And for sure many would like to help personally. But volunteers are centrally recruited through the official hotline and sent to the field in an organized manner. And this requires special training: people who do not have at least a secondary medical education and have not completed a first aid course have nothing to do in the disaster zone. And even those with training do not act independently, but are subordinate to the local Ministry of Emergency Situations. And everyone who breeds independent fuss, even if with the best of intentions, in fact, only interferes with real help.

It turns out that many compatriots are ready to take aid to the affected regions in their own cars and help on the spot with its distribution, and they are sure that this is a good deed. But for organized rescuers, the statement “we are leaving ourselves” is already a disservice, since some of the Turkish routes are now blocked due to snow drifts, and on those that are followed by official assistance and evacuation, amateur assistants create traffic jams.

“You don’t need to help sort out the sent things, this is done by volunteers on the ground, you don’t have to travel across the country for this,” say relocators from the Russian Federation, who track and accumulate information about collection points in cities and update lists of what they need most affected areas. – Those who really want to help need to look more often at the lists of what is really needed in disaster areas, since they are constantly updated. Do not collect anything that is horrible, and do not pass it on through some of your acquaintances, “who are just going in that direction.”

Activists acknowledge that some are still interested in how and what can be done to help those who remain in earthquake-prone areas. And it’s easier to list what NOT to do. Thus, a memo of 5 points in Russian was born for those who wish to help the victims of a huge disaster that the elements brought down on Turkey. Here she is:

1. Unplanned help doesn’t reach its destination. Aid can be sent with the help of the Turkish Ministry of Emergency Situations (AFAD) or in coordination with them.

2. Going to deliver help yourself – this only creates traffic congestion. It is necessary to transfer aid to official institutions that will deliver aid on a planned basis.

3. Give only what is asked for help.

4. It is better to help financially so that the official services themselves buy the necessary things and send them to the disaster zones.

5. The list of necessary things can change quickly, so you need to follow up-to-date information and not distribute outdated data.

According to volunteers, some of the things sent to help in the disaster area, alas, led many to anger. “Volunteers who work tirelessly in the disaster area, sorting out aid sent to the region, are sometimes horrified by the things they send,” activists write in a Russian-language chat dedicated to providing assistance. “These are old, torn, dirty things, evening dresses, high heels, summer outfits and even accessories.”

Organizers report that sorting out such “help” from normal things takes up valuable time from volunteers. And they remind that, although in the first days after the earthquake there was an earnest request to send only new things, now, with an increase in the number of victims, they began to accept worn, but clean and well-groomed and only winter (!) clothes and shoes. After all, if a person sincerely empathizes and wants to help, and not “tick himself”, then he probably knows that after the earthquake in the affected region it is rapidly getting colder, snow alternates with rain, at night the air temperature becomes minus, and during the day it does not rise above + 3- 5 degrees.