Brandeis students have mobilized after a disaster occurred across the world, calling for aid for the victims of an earthquake in the eastern portion of Van, a province of Turkey. The Turkish Students Association was revived after news of the last devastating quake and has begun to fundraise after an aftershock created additional damage and has already killed at least 10 people.
The same area had suffered a previous earthquake on Oct. 28, which killed approximately 600 people and left thousands homeless as weather turned cold. Two hotels that experienced what was thought to be only mild damage in the last earthquake toppled last Wednesday, trapping an undetermined number of people under the debris, many of whom are Turkish journalists who were covering the aftermath of the first quake. It is an impoverished area and, as winter sets in, many people are still living in tents, afraid to return to their homes as the aftershocks continued to roll throughout the region.
The Brandeis club has begun to organize fundraising in order to assist the victims of Turkey’s latest earthquake. The Turkish Student Association plans to sell baklava, a Middle Eastern dessert, and wristbands in the SCC to raise money and awareness for the victims of the quakes. According to Rozi Levi ’13, the head organizer of the event, there will also be face painting and dorm storming in the near future. The Turkish Student Association is raising the money for the Turkish Red Crescent, a part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, which is the largest humanitarian organization in Turkey, and for the AKUT Search and Rescue Association through the Turkish Philanthropic Fund, all of which are well-recognized aid organizations in the country.
Though the club has been defunct for a number of years, by next semester it will be fully functional again. The organizers have plans to work with Aziz Sohail ’13, a member of Project Nur, which is another chartered club on campus, to hold a concert highlighting the many different cultures in dance and music throughout Turkey.
