2ND UPDATE ON THE CURRENT SITUATION IN TURKEY

Hi everyone. Here to let you know that me and my immediate family are safe (I live in the northwest region and my family is on the west coast while the earthquake happened in the southeast region) and thankfully, while I personally haven’t received any dreadful news, my heart’s still aching for the people who had to suffer through this catastrophe (that could’ve been somewhat avoided). You should know that the situation is much much worse than what the news outlets paint it to be. The winter is really harsh and there are people who die not because they couldn’t be rescued but because of hypothermia. There aren’t enough facilities or humanpower, and it’s at the point where, because there aren’t enough portable toilets for victims to use or enough prosecutors who can verify the deaths of people so they can be buried, experts expect a serious outbreak if sanitary conditions aren’t met immediately. Women and their access to sanitary products, not only because of their ability but also because of the stigma, is a problem on a whole other level.

I’m not reporting these just to get a “omg sad face :(” out of you, but just so you can get a glimpse of how dire the situation is. This is not just a case of people losing homes and having to camp out for a couple of days, it brings lots of other social, psychological, biological, and economical problems to countries such as Turkey or Syria who have already been plagued by war, instability, and poverty.

I have shared a post on Wednesday that included links for both Turkey and Syria and I continuously monitor the availability of links & the way these organisations operate and whether it’s worth donating them or not. I’m ashamed and devastated to be in a situation where the authorities or governmental organizations that should’ve been the first reliable source are the ones we tell others to stay away from donating… But that’s the way it is.

I appreciate the people who have left kind messages under my posts and hope to see you soon.