Singapore Red Cross has helped about 1 million survivors of Turkey and Syria earthquakes
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People walking in the damaged old town almost one year after a deadly earthquake in Hatay, Turkey, on Feb 2, 2024.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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SINGAPORE - The Singapore Red Cross (SRC) assisted close to one million people from Turkey and Syria in the aftermath of two devastating earthquakes that hit the two countries on Feb 6, 2023.
A spokeswoman for the humanitarian organisation told The Straits Times on Feb 9 that it has raised about $8 million to date to support those affected by the natural disaster.
Two earthquakes of magnitudes 7.8 and 7.6 killed more than 53,000 people in Turkey and nearly 6,000 in neighbouring Syria. Millions were made homeless.
There was a huge outpouring of international aid and support. A 68-member contingent from the Singapore Civil Defence Force helped rescue two survivors in the days following the quakes
About two weeks after the disaster, ST reported that individuals and organisations in Singapore had raised nearly $9 million in funds for survivors
In August, non-governmental organisation Mercy Relief donated 20 container homes valued at $180,000.
On Feb 8, the chief executive of World Vision Singapore Benjamin Tan said that its international organisation’s humanitarian response in the past year in earthquake-stricken areas had reached around two million people in both north-west Syria and southern Turkey.
The response covered areas including nutrition, sanitation and hygiene, and the organisation also helped more than 100,000 children gain access to education and psychosocial support.
The SRC spokeswoman said that to support the humanitarian operations of the Turkish Red Crescent in tackling waterborne and hygiene-related diseases, it had dispatched 20 water filters to the tent city areas of the affected region in the immediate aftermath of the quakes.
She said SRC also helped set up container classrooms in Hatay, the worst-hit province.
The spokeswoman added that SRC is working with the Turkish Red Crescent to operate a mobile child-friendly programme there.
The space contains an activity area to engage children aged between four and 18 in psychological support, child protection, social cohesion, youth empowerment and skills development programmes.
Container classrooms in Hatay, Turkey, that SRC has helped establish.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE RED CROSS
The spokeswoman said: “Activities for children cover topics on privacy, values, environmental cleanliness, communication and dental health, with the aim of helping them establish personal boundaries.”
She added that adolescents receive psychoeducation on trauma, post-traumatic stress reactions, peer relationships and emotion management.
As part of SRC’s future plans, the spokeswoman said it is collaborating with a local university to provide interdisciplinary rehabilitation services for children who had suffered limb loss from the earthquakes.
