My surviving family from the Turkish earthquakes

My name is Frank Shooster. My wife Dilek’s aunt, cousins, and in-laws desperately need your help. They have been devastated by the Turkish earthquake that destroyed the city of Antakya, where they have lived for generations. She lost seven cousins through her aunt, who in turn lost her niece; a nephew and his son; another nephew along with his wife, daughter, and granddaughter. She also lost fifteen in-laws, some close; others that she knew from family gatherings over the years. My brother-in-law and one her other cousins lost twelve of their childhood friends. We can’t bear to ask the others about the losses of their own friends and loved ones.

Twenty eight family members survived. Two were rescued after several days trapped under the rubble. (Two more could be heard crying out for help, but they didn’t make it). One cousin-in-law heroically found the strength to move a concrete block aside, making it possible for many of them climb out. “Only” four of them suffered serious fractures (and only one of them required reconstructive surgery). His daughter, though, remains hospitalized on a ventilator fighting for her life. The rest are walking-wounded with superficial to soft-tissue injuries, but it’s hard to know their severity since the health care system is overwhelmed by the vast number of victims. Even those with minor injuries are permanently scarred by the psychic trauma.

Since the two main earthquakes of February 6-8, There have been thousands of aftershocks (no exaggeration). Each one triggers another panic attack.

All of the survivors lost everything but the pajamas on their backs. Homes, cars, and personal effects were all destroyed. Thankfully, an in-law living outside the immediate earthquake zone with his wife and two children have taken 13 into their three bedroom home. The 15 others are crowded into his three bedroom summer home. Twelve are children including two in pre-school. At least none were orphaned.

One cousin reports:

“People are asking if we are okay? I don't know. It's cold outside but you can't go home. You're exhausted but you can't sleep. You're hungry but you can't eat. You didn't die, but what you see and hear makes you feel worse than dying. You can't even react to the news that your friends are dead. You close your eyes, but you feel constant shaking. When you look into your family's eyes, you see what despair is. You want to cry loudly, but you try to stay strong for [them]. Maybe we are not dead physically, but we are already dead psychologically. God help us.”

Those family members who can work are unemployed and there are few jobs to be found. That leaves one man supporting 32 people—an impossible burden to sustain absent the help of family and friends. Promised government benefits are meager and nowhere near enough to support all 28 of them.

Dilek and I are already helping them financially (family first) but we recognize that we can’t simply ignore the others just because they are faceless so we are helping them too. Yet they all need so much more.

Your generosity can make all the difference to help her family get back on their feet. They aren’t asking for a lot. Just enough for temporary assistance. They were all living in 4 flats aside from her aunt who had a small home. If her aunt moves in with one of Dilek’s cousins, they can still get by on four flats. A modest 3 bedroom flat in a working-class city runs about $1,000/mo. Food runs about $125/mo per person. It will take a minimum of roughly $500 per person to purchase clothing, personal hygiene and school supplies, a few cell phones per household, with enough left for public transportation. I’m conservatively assuming they will need a minimum of $500 per household for miscellaneous items. I am almost certainly forgetting many more expenses.

If we only look ahead six months with the hope that each household can find work by then, they will need at least $40,000 to get by.