A group of eight aid workers the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation sent to Haiti from Turkey to reinforce the team sent from the United States arrived after a 20-hour long journey and two-day waiting period. The aid workers distributed the relief materials they had brought with themselves from Dominican Republic.
Volunteer medics Ali Alemdar, Giray Yavuz and Ali Yalçın are currently performing examinations and medical treatments. They initially performed examinations of the orphan children the IHH is caring for.
Volunteer physician Alemdar said “I am glad I came here. We could not leave these people to their fate. We are trying to save orphan children living in the streets. Bodies of quake victims are lying in the streets and these orphans might run into the bodies of their parents.”
Yavuz, another volunteer doctor, said “Over 120,000 people died. But the situation of the survivors is not so good either. A struggle for survival lies before them. We are trying to treat the injured. You are really moved while treating the orphan and you think of your own children. May Allah make no one orphan.”
Thousands of injured people are waiting to be treated, physician Yalçın said and warned “If the injured are not treated I am afraid the death toll might rise over 100,000 and even 200,000. Humanity should not be buried under the ruins. The world should hear the scream of Haitian children.”
Hot food for orphans
In addition to health screenings, 700 orphan children were distributed hot food. IHH hired cooks to provide hot food to Haitian orphans. The children who lost their parents were helping each other while eating, which was noteworthy. IHH aid coordinator in Haiti Halil Demir noted they were looking for a safe building to shelter the orphans. He added they were working to establish a hospital and soup kitchen as well.
Bodies lie in streets, insecurity rules
Mustafa Öztürk from the IHH team stated the bodies of the victims were still lying in the streets. “Wherever you look you see bodies that have started to smell. This scene is particularly terrifying to children. The survivors are striving to find something to live on. They want water and food. More aid is needed. Aid agencies can only distributed relief materials in company with security forces. Security has become a serious problem. We as IHH workers have the advantage of being a crowded aid group. There are 50 of us. We are carrying on aid works and looking for a shelter for the orphans as well as a hospital and a soup kitchen.”
