Ali Kalem’s heart sank earlier this week when he woke up to the news that an earthquake shook his childhood home, Adana, in southern Turkey. He tried to call his family, but none of them answered the phone.
“You grew up with these people, and now they are not going to be in your life,” he thought.
The devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake and multiple aftershocks that hit Turkey and Syria early Monday have killed, so far, more than 11,000 people and injured thousands more. According to rescuers, hundreds of families may still be trapped. Freezing winter temperatures have also put survivors at risk of hypothermia as temperatures dip below 27 degrees Fahrenheit.
And in New Hampshire, Kalem and other community members with ties to those countries worry about the well-being of their loved ones and others affected by the earthquake.
Kalem is the owner of Anatolia, a Turkish-Mediterranean restaurant in Somersworth. He has been living in New Hampshire since 2011. He said he came for a better future but had to leave his five siblings and parents behind.
One of the buildings where his brother lived fell to the ground, as more than 3,000 others have since the earthquake hit. Fortunately, Kalem said his family members were not inside and could join the rest of his family later and let him know they were safe.
Kalem's family told him they heard of people jumping from the second and third floors, desperate to save their lives. They have seen neighbors' homes destroyed and are worried they might die.
But in the middle of the tragedy, Kalem said, his family is resilient; they say people are united to rescue survivors, no matter their background.
“Everybody is crying but also happy when they see lives coming out of the rubble,” Kalem recounted. “That makes the people keep their hope.”
Still, Kalem said he hasn’t been able to sleep; he wakes up with nightmares at night. He worries about houses falling.
“[They] need their house, but at the same time, it is a life-threatening situation,” he said.
Kalem checks on his family every couple of hours. He said it is hard to be away.
Elsewhere in New Hampshire, Nadia Alawa is trying to round up donations to help those who survived the earthquakes.
“People are in need of blankets, mattresses, food, generators, and toys for kids,” said Alawa, the CEO and founder of NuDay, an organization working to empower women and children in Syria.
NuDay is collecting donations at its warehouse in Derry and will send those supplies within the next few weeks, but Alawa expects to face challenges distributing them. She said border entry buildings had been razed, which complicates the process. She hopes people can donate money, as this will provide resources to buy relief items in the same country.
Alawa said NuDay provides shelter to 1,000 people and has 100 volunteers in two Syrian communities. One volunteer told her this Tuesday, crying, that they found a 4-year-old boy who had been on the rubble for 40 hours.
“We have to tell him that his three brothers and sisters, his mother and father, they are gone, that he has nobody in the world,” Alawa said.
NuDay volunteers have also reported the need for appropriate equipment for rescues and fuel scarcity. Even three months from now, Alawa said, there will still be a need for donations.
“We want to ensure that people feel supported by the community in New Hampshire,” she said.
For more information on how to donate, you can go to www.NuDaySyria.org
