Ms. von Lenthe, you work as a regional program coordinator for the German Red Cross (DRK) in Beirut. You came to Turkey immediately after the earthquake to coordinate the DRK’s aid and cooperation with the Turkish Red Crescent in the disaster area and in Ankara. How is the humanitarian situation six weeks after the earthquake?
She is still dramatic when it comes to accommodation and food supply. Thousands of people have no permanent shelter, they are without electricity and water, they cannot cook properly. In the villages, people are camping in front of their destroyed houses. There are ghost towns that can no longer be inhabited.
What is needed most?
As long as people cannot take care of themselves, as long as they live in tents and cannot cook for themselves, daily basic necessities, the pure coverage of basic needs is the most important. If you talk to those affected and to the volunteers, you also notice the trauma that needs to be processed. Anyone who has helped from the first minute gets into a very tense mood themselves.
Now in Turkey: Charlotte von Lenthe is the program coordinator of the German Red Cross.
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What do you estimate, how long will the emergency aid last?
People talk about months, also about a period of one to two years. It will take time before people can take care of themselves again. It will be a long time before they can live in their own houses again. At the same time, the acute basic aid in the sense of food supply could decrease, the more people then live in permanent accommodation.
What’s next?
It is important to find a permanent solution for the accommodation so that people can fend for themselves again. This reconstruction is outside of humanitarian aid. Support from abroad can help with the necessary financial support for those who move back into permanent housing.
Are international teams in the area?
During the rescue and recovery phase, many international teams came from all over the world and saved lives. They have since left, and the number of volunteers from abroad is also slowly decreasing. It is now all the more important to support and strengthen local organizations and NGOs.
Are foreign helpers still needed?
We are here as DRK to support the Turkish Red Crescent with its thousands of staff and volunteers. Other NGOs are active here with their expertise. Coordinated by the Turkish Ministry of Health, they operate field hospitals, for example, which support Turkey as part of the national disaster plan until the health system is reconstructed.
How is the coordination with the Turkish authorities going?
In support of Syrian refugees in Turkey, we already had a very close partnership with the Turkish Red Crescent before the earthquake. We build on that. As part of the national disaster plan, the Turkish civil protection authority assigns individual tasks to Afad. Thus, the Turkish Red Crescent has the leading coordinating role in the food supply. In addition, the Turkish Red Crescent has a supporting role in the accommodation, in the social area and in logistics as well as a small complementary part in the basic medical care, also in the distribution of hygiene articles and blankets. This is how the coordination of the national, regional and local levels interlocks.