Editor’s Note: This article was written for Mosaic Vision, an independent journalism training program for high school students who report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.
After a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6, killing more than 50,000 people, many high school students in the South Bay felt its impact.
“So many of us lost family members, friends and people from our community who we were connected to,” said Khadija Masri, a Syrian-American sophomore at Santa Clara High School. “It definitely was like a huge rock that was put on all of us.”
Masri is one of many Bay Area high school students who have quickly jumped to aid those living amid the earthquake’s destruction.
“What they need right now is toothbrushes, blankets and other winter essentials,” Masri said. “Everything has been stripped away from them.”
One way Bay Area high school students have gotten involved is through Helping Hand, a disaster relief organization and a second responder with 14 offices throughout the United States. The organization has launched a $10 million campaign to provide relief for earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria, according to Regional Manager Shireen Khan.
Helping Hand initially focuses on delivering immediate relief and essentials such as hygiene products, bottled water, hot meals, heaters and first aid goods. After the emergency phase, Helping Hand uses donations to purchase materials for rebuilding efforts.
Along with Helping Hand, the Hidaya Foundation is accepting monetary donations for relief, according to Operations Manager Osman Ergene. Its San Jose location has held collection drives and its volunteers helped prepare packages to send, but the group is now focusing on monetary donations. More information on the groups can be found at Helping Hand’s website, www.hhrd.org, and Hidaya Foundation’s website, www.hidaya.org.
“We have teams on the ground in both Turkey and Syria. Now we are in the emergency phase of relief so we have been sending money for people to buy blankets, food, and winter clothing for those who have lost their homes and for people who have been impacted by aftershocks,” he said.
Ergene is grateful so many people in the Bay Area have gotten involved to help relief efforts, whether through volunteering or donating. “The support is there. Everybody wants to do something.”
The need to provide aid will continue. After the emergency phase, the Hidaya Foundation will focus on rehabilitation. “Once all of the smoke clears, a lot of people still will be left needing to get back on track,” Ergene said. “We always like to be there for that phase, to help as many families as we can.”
The huge earthquake on Feb. 6, and the 6.4 magnitude one that followed on Feb. 20, are shedding light on the plight of people in Turkey and Syria – and offering a chance for high school students in the Bay Area to learn more about the people in the region, many of whom had already been displaced by the civil war in Syria, which began in March 2011.
However, Masri is disappointed with the lack of discussion about the Syria and Turkey earthquakes in the classroom. “We all need to pay more attention to these issues and talk about it in class,” she said. “Teachers do talk about issues in our country, but considering how diverse schools are, it is important to talk about the difficulties people are facing outside the country.”
Khadeejah Khan is a junior at Santa Clara High School.
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