Buying new homes for people in Çayırköy,Turkey

Thank you for reading this.

My name is Christian Arnold, and I started this fundraising in the name of Ece Kartal, who was born and raised in Çayırköy, 44900 Yeşilyurt/Malatya, Türkiye. She went there 3 days before the earthquakes hit Turkey to visit her family. They were happily reuniting with family until the earthquakes hit the whole village and literally shook their ground and lives. The people in the village and Ece and her family, in particular, were always helping others, all her life, both financially and mentally, and now, for the first time, they need help. We want to raise money here to give to the people living in the village, to help them rebuild their village and life.

What happened since we started the campaign

It has been a wild ride, and many things happened. While Ece and many people in her village still struggle every day with the earthquake aftermath, we started to discuss and plan exactly how the funds will be used. We have exciting news to share: We decided to literally BUY affordable prefabricated houses for the people in the village. Ece started to get quotes, and we will soon reach out to companies to negotiate discounts and specifics. See below for details!

CURRENT HOUSE COUNTER: 2 (~12.000 Euro per house, will be updated when more funds have been raised)

Here are three highlights of what happened since we started the campaign:

1. We raised a significant amount of money and are very happy about it. So many people wrote us, helped, and donated, thank you all for that!

2. The biggest local newspaper in the Heidelberg region contacted us and Ece agreed to speak about all the terrible things she had to experience. The newspaper article was published on the 10th of February. It is in German, but please have a look:

https://www.rnz.de/region/heidelberg_artikel,-erdbeben-in-der-tuerkei-heidelbergerin-wollte-auf-heimaturlaub-und-flog-in-katastrophe-_arid,1055283.html

3. We now have a designated Instagram account, please follow us: https://www.instagram.com/gofundme_cayirkoy_turkey/

What this fund is for

The money from this fundraising will be used exclusively for the people living in Çayırköy, 44900 Yeşilyurt/Malatya, Türkiye, and Ece Kartal will coordinate fund distribution. The village is relatively small (a few hundred inhabitants) and most people know each other. This private fund will be used to help rebuilding the life of the villagers in the medium and long-term, and focus on:

Who are we, who is responsible for distributing the money?

We are a group of scientists with a PhD in the natural sciences spread across the globe (most of us are living in Heidelberg, Germany at the moment). If you live close by, say hi and visit! We are also happy to chat via phone. We initiated this fund because we felt so helpless here, and the tragedy and scope of this made us realize that we want to be active and do what we can to help.

Contact us and reach out

1. gofundme.help (a t) web.de

2. Our designated Instagram page (@gofundme_cayirkoy_turkey)

The team

In addition to Ece and me, the following people agreed to be part of the team to help and spread the word (to be extended, let us know if you want to help more actively):

If you want to be part of the team, contact us, we are very happy about adding you!

Proof of how the money is used

All raised money will be documented anonymously, with proof of how exactly they are and were used, and shared upon request. We will continue being available for any questions, proof of payments etc. We have nothing to hide and only good intentions.

Please consider contributing.

Thank you in advance, and stay safe.