İhh İnsani Yardım Bülteni 48 English by İHH İnsani Yardım Vakfı

s k r o w f e i l IHH re e n o z e k a u q h t r a e n in Va IHH East Africa lief Effort Emergency Re

n a i r a t i n a hum JANUARY Y FEBRUAR MARCH

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By the successfully performed cataract operations 50.000 Africans regained their sight. Our goal is to bring light to 100.000 Africans.

editorial

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January-February-March 2012 Issue: 48 Owner on behalf of IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation Atty. F. Bülent YILDIRIM Executive Editor Ümit SÖNMEZ Editor Amine TUNA ERTÜRK Editorial Board Murat YILMAZ Hafize Zehra KAVAK Osman ATALAY Zeliha SAĞLAM Niyazi Özgür YÜCE Translation Adnan DEMiR Corrector Rifat Audeh Design SİYAHMARTI ADVERTISING Phone: +90 (216) 465 55 79 Printing İhlas Gazetecilik Phone: +90 (212) 454 30 00 Address Büyük Karaman Caddesi Taylasan Sokak No: 3 Fatih-İSTANBUL/TURKEY Phone: +90 (212) 631 21 21 Fax: +90 (212) 621 70 51 info@ihh.org.tr www.ihh.org.tr

Esteemed readers, Our foundation, which has expanded its activity area to 130 countries in five continents in 20 years, rushes help to the poor, orphans and stranded people in Turkey and zones of war, disaster and crisis. It serves as a bridge between the giver and the needy, and helps spread and increase the good. Van earthquake response and East Africa relief efforts that remained on the top of our agenda for the past three months stand out as the main areas of activity in this issue. You can find detailed information in the Van file about crisis coordination, distribution of basic food items, search and rescue works, setting up tents, prefabricated houses and containers, and other activities of our teams that reached the earthquake zone several hours after the occurrence. We have also included a list of materials that are urgently needed in the area. As part of the East Africa aid campaign that was announced in July by IHH to the Turkish public, distribution of clean drinking water, dried food, meat, clothes and other basic necessities to those in need in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia is continuing. In Somalia, where safety of life cannot be ensured due to ongoing clashes between the Somali government and different local groups, IHH is exerting effort to reach out not only in the capital Mogadishu but also in different parts of the country to the people who have been affected by drought and have hit the roads in search of water and food. IHH has assumed the role of an agent for civilian initiatives in Malaysia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Indonesia and Germany, as well as for charitygivers in Turkey, that want to send assistance to the crisis zone. You can read in the orphans’ section about the Sponsor Family System and its achievements during four years since it was launched in 2007 by IHH, which took its care program for orphans and homeless children a step further in 2011. This long-term project in which charitable people from Turkey support 23,282 orphans in 36 countries with monthly donations and periodical distributions of clothes, food and educational help is reaching out to more orphans day by day with the efforts of our volunteers and benefactors. We express our gratitude on behalf of 23,282 orphans to everyone who has contributed to this charity. With the hope of spreading the good hand in hand…

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4 a d n age IHH relief works inne quake zo Van earth

IHH RELIEF WORKS IN VAN EARTHQUAKE ZONE A 7.2-magnitude earthquake on 23 October caused extensive damage in the eastern Turkish city of Van and nearby settlement areas. A second earthquake of 5.6-magnitude that happened on 9 November before the city could recover also caused fatalities and material damage. The death toll in the two earthquakes is 644 lives. The earthquakes and aftershocks that lasted for a long time inflicted massive damage on public buildings, hospitals, schools and residential buildings. Thousands were forced to spend days outside since they were advised not to enter the damaged buildings. People are looking for ways to protect themselves against cold as winter conditions intensify and temperatures fall below zero. According to figures released by the Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management (AFAD), the number of people who moved to different cities across Turkey with their own means and those who were placed in guesthouses of governmental institutions by governor offices exceeded 35,000. However, thousands are still living in difficult conditions in tent towns scattered around Van. IHH, which mobilized its teams in cities neighboring Van three hours after the earthquake hit, had stationed them in Erciş to initiate emergency relief works, and is still working in the area to help with crisis management. The foundation is distributing basic necessities such as hot meals, food items, drinking water, blankets, tents, medicine and medical materials; setting up prefabricated houses and containers and providing psychological counseling and rehabilitation services.

5 a d n age IHH relief works inne quake zo Van earth

6 a d n age IHH relief works inne quake zo Van earth

WHAT DID IHH DO IN VAN? 1. Crisis coordination

HH teams in neighboring provinces were contacted right after the earthquake and were directed to the disaster zone immediately. The IHH teams were headed by IHH executive board member Gülden Sönmez and managed coordination for 12 hours at the crisis center set up by the Erciş provincial governor’s oﬃce, and firstly carried out damage assessment in the town. Following fieldwork, oﬃcial and civilian search and rescue teams coming from across Turkey and overseas were directed to damage zones in accordance with their equipment and movement capabilities and were given logistical support. Some of the IHH volunteers stationed at the crisis management center were tasked to handle and list reports about collapsed buildings and trapped people. Voluntary medical teams arriving in the town were dispatched to health centers. Reports of needs assessment in central Van and surrounding villages were shared with local authorities as well as international civil society organizations.

2. Search-rescue works

search-rescue team of 37 volunteers trained in emergency intervention arrived in Erciş 13 hours after the earthquake occurred and joined damage assessment work. The team pulled 12 people alive from the destroyed buildings in Erciş in four days. In addition to supporting search-rescue efforts, the teams also provided materials to other emergency teams in the town.

The 37-member strong IHH emergency relief team pulled 12 people from rubble alive after five-day long search-rescue work.

7 a d n age IHH relief works inne quake zo Van earth

3. Emergency help campaign: “Be the epicenter of help!”

HH, which has been raising funds since 23 October for earthquake survivors in Van, has so far publicized its relief campaign with text messages, social networking sites such as Twitter, Flickr, and Facebook, pamphlets, newspaper, magazine and television adverts in Turkey and around the world through partner organizations. Cash donations and in-kind aid such as used clothes, food, blankets, heaters, water, cleaning materials were collected in the campaign. The campaign drew huge interest from volunteers in Turkey and worldwide. Associations and state bodies contributed donations. Our volunteers organized various charity fairs and hall programs and collected in-kind aid. Malaysia, Kuwait, Australia, Canada, Britain, USA, Egypt, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, South Africa, Pakistan and Iraq contributed individual and oﬃcial donations for emergency efforts and long-term projects. 25 volunteers from Indonesia, Britain, Pakistan, Malaysia and Somalia joined IHH fieldworks in the earthquake zone.

IHH Van Relief Campaign “Be the epicenter of help!”

In-kind Aid

Cash donations

Amount of aid from Turkey and abroad

TL 6,102,835

TL 1,752,749

(Last update: December 2011)

8 a d n age IHH relief works inne quake zo Van earth

4. Volunteers coordination

IHH, which has volunteers and partner organizations in 78 provinces across Turkey, mobilized its active volunteers within hours after the earthquake and sent them to the area from the cities of İstanbul, Ankara, Antalya/Alanya, Erzurum, İzmir, Kayseri, Konya, Kahramanmaraş, Bingöl, Adıyaman, Sakarya, Muş, Ağrı, Bursa, Diyarbakır, Bitlis/Tatvan, Uşak, Kütahya, Adana, Malatya, Bolu and Elazığ. The number of volunteers that arrived in the earthquake zone within four days following the quake reached 304. The number rose to 988 by the end of December. The volunteers contributed to fieldworks led by professional aid workers and helped with distributing bread, blankets, food, clothes, heaters and other basic necessities, in addition to setting up tents and shelters for emergency accommodation, storing relief supplies coming into the area, dispatching relief materials to aid stations in towns and villages and working with a mobile kitchen.

The number of volunteers that arrived in the earthquake zone within four days following the quake reached 304. The number rose to 988 by the end of December.

9 a d n age IHH relief works inne quake zo Van earth

5. Meeting basic needs 20 IHH volunteers from Tatvan offered free haircuts to earthquake survivors in ErciĹ&#x; from early November to the end of Eid al-Adha at the IHH tent.

hree undamaged buildings in Van city center were rented in the days following the earthquake to store relief materials coming from Istanbul and other Anatolian cities and two tents of 1000 squaremeters were set up. The warehouses are used to store in-kind aid coming into Van and the materials are being distributed to affected areas by IHH workers. The warehouses also contain supplies sent to the area by various organizations and institutions across Turkey.

10 a d n age IHH relief works inne quake zo Van earth

a. Food distributions Food distributions began at the same time with search and rescue efforts and were supported with a mobile kitchen trailer. As of December TL 1,375,576 worth humanitarian materials such as breakfast food, vegetables, fruits, meat, infant formula, ďŹ&#x201A;our, cooking oil, water and milk were distributed in cooperation with local institutions and NGOs.

Food Distributions

(Last update: December 2011)

Breakfast food, ďŹ&#x201A;our, cooking oil, milk, water, infant formula, biscuits, vegetables, fruits

396,145 pieces

TL 844,159

Meat

9,586 packages

TL 531,417

TOTAL

TL 1,375,576

11 a d n age IHH relief works inne quake zo Van earth

Our mobile kitchen distributed hot meals to 483,000 people as of December. b. Mobile kitchen Starting from the second day after the earthquake our mobile kitchen provided hot meals for 10,000 persons per day for two weeks in the town of ErciĹ&#x; to affected families and search-rescue and emergency aid teams coming from across Turkey and around the world. The kitchen trailer was stationed in the Van city center in the following days and had distributed hot meals to 483,000 people as of December 2011.

12 a d n age IHH relief works inne quake zo Van earth

c. Clothing and household goods In Van and ErciĹ&#x;, women, men and children in need of clothing were given 194,449 pieces of coats, skirts, trousers, pullovers, boots, blouses, underwear and shoes. Moreover, 100,112 pieces of blankets, quilts, carpets, 1029 heaters and 722 pieces of kitchenware were also distributed to earthquake survivors.

d. Hygiene kits As of December, 2945 pieces of diapers, hygiene pads, soap and detergent worth TL 30,366 were distributed in the earthquake zone.

13 a d n age IHH relief works inne quake zo Van earth

e. Health As of December 2011, 17,359 medication items and 59 orthopedic materials worth TL 150,262 were distributed in the affected areas. In addition to the distribution of medical supplies, earthquake survivors, particularly orphan children, have been offered rehabilitation services ever since the first week after the quake. The children are given psychological support at child centers set up under the supervision of voluntary psychologists, pedagogues and educators.

14 a d n age IHH relief works inne quake zo Van earth

f. Sheltering In the days following the earthquake, winter tents and tin-foil and insulated windows were shipped to the region to provide the highest number of people with shelter at the lowest cost. To protect the affected people against worsening winter conditions 100 items of 12-squaremeter prefabricated shelters were shipped to the earthquake zone in the days that followed it. For crowded families 48 containers of 21 squaremeters were installed.

Tents: As of December 2011, a total number of 3664 tents and canvases were distributed in Van and nearby villages. Moreover, 550-squaremeter condolence tents were set up in the Ercis’ Kışla neighborhood for families that lost members in the earthquake. Prefabricated shelters: 50 tents

and 100 prefabricated houses were installed on a 4-hectare piece of land allocated by the Van governor’s oﬃce. Soup kitchens, laundry facilities, bathrooms and toilets are

being constructed as shared facilities for the tents and prefabricated houses. The 12-square-meter houses are designed for a family of six members and contain bunk bed, table, chair, carpet, electrical heater and furnishing for bed and blanket. The houses are resistant enough to hold up to 200 kilograms of snow and windproof with thermal insulation. The prefabricated shelters are durable, easy to produce and can be assembled by four people in 10 minutes. Further, they can be disassembled and used somewhere else if needed.

15 a d n age IHH relief works inne quake zo Van earth

Containers: Containers shipments

to the earthquake zone started in the second week of December. The containers will be installed on the same land as tents and prefabricated houses. Each container is 21 squaremeters with bathroom, toilet, kitchen and two rooms. The containers contain two bunk beds (including mattress), a foldable couch, five sets of bed sheets, six pillows, six blankets, two carpets, two electrical heaters, a table and four chairs, a portable wardrobe, dinnerware for six, a knife set for six, a dinner

bowl and two pots. The containers are estimated to be handed to the affected people by the end of January following the installment of electric, water and sewage grids

Volunteer support: IHH volunteers

in İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Konya, Adıyaman, Antalya, Batman and Bitlis allocated houses to 140 families who lost everything they had in the earthquake.

Families staying in containers will also benefit from monthly food aid. Each month families will be given packages of 3 liters of cooking oil, 2 kilos of tomato paste, 1 kilo of tea, 5 kilos of bulghur, 3 kilos of lentils, 3 packages of chickpeas, 3 kilos of dried beans, 10 packages of macaroni, 4 kilos of rice, 5 packages of sugar, 2 kilos of olives, 2 kilos of cheese, 2 kilos of jam, 1 kilo of tahini and 2 kilos of grapes molasses.

16 a d n age IHH relief works inne quake zo Van earth

Aid In-kind in detail Last update: December 2011 Units

Total (TL)

Food

396,145

844,159

Meat and meat products

9,586

531,417

Textile

188,560

1,402,600

Shoes

5,889 pairs

140,009

Medicine and medical materials

17,359

150,202

Cleaning materials

2,945

30,366

Home textile

100,112

846,210

Tent-Canvas

3,664

505,291

Technical equipment for tent pitching

8,598

13,514

Kitchen tools

722

7,945

Electronic appliances

627

Household goods

7,028

185,680

Orthopedic materials

4,222

Stove

1,029

129,455

Fuel

800

3,540

Toys

364

1,782

Bunk beds

2,520

Containers

506,880

Prefabricated houses

100

650,000

Shower Cabin

25,960

WC Cabin

30,450

Grand Total

TL 6,012,835

g. Sponsor Family System As a result of relief efforts following the earthquake, 114 orphan children in Van were included in the Sponsor Family System. With a monthly donation of â&#x201A;Ź35/$50 the orphans will be supported with regular cash donations as well as periodical food, stationery and clothing assistance.

You can also assume care of one or more than one orphan by a monthly donation of â&#x201A;Ź35/$50 for at least a year or make any kind of donation or give support to our orphan fund. To join this charity drive you can fill out sponsor family application form at www.ihh.org.tr/yetimtalep/en/yeni .

17 a d n age IHH relief works inne quake zo Van earth

VAN EME RGENCY

EEDS LIST The list of n eeds as con firmed by IH H teams on the grou nd is as follo ws: • Contain ers

• Prefabr icated roo ms and sh • Heaters elters

• All kind s of durab le foodstu ffs • Public b aths and toilets • Drinkin g water

• Kitchen w

• Beds

are

• Baby dia pers • Woman hygiene k its • General c (soap, sha leaning products mpoo, tow el, etc.)

18 a d n age IHH relief works inne quake zo Van earth

For brighter future in Erciş, Van Ayşe Olgun

n the wake of the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that greatly transformed thousands of lives in a matter of seconds and turned a large city into a tent city, we as a group of five voluntary psychologists and preschool teachers arrived in the town of Erciş. At Eid al-Adha we as IHH organized educational and entertaining activities for earthquake survivor children at “Psychological Support and Entertainment Tent” inside one of the tent cities.

Life in the tent city The tent city where we are staying and working consists of 99 tents and is home to around 500 earthquake survivors. The families are trying to protect themselves against freezing temperatures with electrical heaters and blankets. In the tent settlement, three associations are offering meals three times a day, a mobile hospital and a laundry with automatic washing machines are providing required services. Water is distributed to tent dwellers in the evenings. The victims - who lost in a matter of seconds their homes, jobs, relatives, established orders, in short everything they had - tell what they went through with worry and uncertainty. Numerous aftershocks occur daily and the people constantly live the moments of the first big earthquake over and over. The most innocent but also the worst hit group in such disasters is always children. About 250-300 children in the tent city leave their tents early in the morning and spend the day outside despite freezing temperatures. Some children are scared of staying

in closed areas even in tents after the earthquake and some, on the other hand, do not want to leave their tents. We offer support to the affected people with two local teachers at our rehabilitation tent from the early hours of the morning until evening. We are playing games, drawing pictures, singing songs with the children and trying to erase with counter-trauma activities the scars of the huge damage they witnessed

Orphan visits The Van-Erciş earthquake claimed more than 600 lives and made 205 children orphans. We visited the orphans who we were referred to by the IHH Orphan Crisis Desk in Erciş and the provincial governor oﬃce at their tents or the houses they are living in, with the IHH coordinator in the region. IHH included 114 children who lost their parents in the Sponsor Family System. IHH will contribute to meet shelter, food, clothing, health and education expenses of orphans in Van from now on..

19 a d n age IHH relief works inne quake zo Van earth

20 a d n age IHH relief works inne quake zo Van earth

Lives pulled from rubble We met 14-year-old Büşra who was recovered alive from the rubble of a destroyed building at one of the tents during Eid visits. She lost her legs under the debris. “We were studying mathematics with 15 friends at a student flat when the earthquake occurred. The flat was located on the sixth floor. When the tremor started we left the room and headed for the corridor but first the ground cracked and I felt like slipping into an everwidening vacuum. I thought it was doomsday and I was being engulfed into eternity. We fell to the first floor. The ceiling crashed on us. Some of the friends were telling us to remain

calm. We informed our parents that we were under rubble by calling them from a friends’ phone. We thought the text message would not be sent. We stayed under the rubble for three hours. I could not move my leg. When I heard the voices coming to rescue us, I got worried that each approaching step would make the rubble crush us further; because there was another person right under where I was, so I had to stay motionless.” Mevlüde Karakaş, 30, lost her 16-yearold daughter in the earthquake along with a 42-year-old brother who had three children. “I was in the kitchen at the time of the earthquake. My daughters Rumeysa and Hayrunnisa were in their rooms. Soon after

the tremors started the six-ﬂoor apartment we were in crashed to the ground. We could not rescue Rumeysa. My son Yusuf Taha was in the attic and remained under rubble for half an hour. I lost my brother and daughter in the quake. The pain of losing my daughter is so deep that it makes me forget the loss of my brother.” Mrs. Figen, 30, a mother of two, had moved one ﬂoor up in the same apartment she used to live in a day before the earthquake. She has two sons aged four and 12. You can read the trauma she experienced when she describes her house that was leveled by the quake: “We had for the first time bought furniture sets for ourselves and the children. We had not even

21 a d n age IHH relief works inne quake zo Van earth

finished paying off the debt. We were very tired the earthquake day because we had newly moved. We slept until a late hour. At about 2 o’clock the house was shaken with a powerful tremor. I fetched my youngest son Nihat and ﬂed the house swiftly. The whole building collapsed no sooner than I escaped. I had forgotten my older son as I was shocked. His father remembered Hamidullah. He had fallen to a lower ﬂoor and hurt his neck. Emergency rescue units pulled him from the rubble.”

Edremit earthquake When a second earthquake of 5.6-magnitude occurred on 9 November, we were at the Van city center in one of the buildings that was not destroyed in the first earthquake. At about 8 o’clock in the evening we had finished our work and were discussing with a 10-member group in the corridor the following day’s

plan when the building began to shake strongly. It seemed like we were on a thin line between death and life. We were reciting Shahada and praying for that moment whose end we could not predict. It all lasted about 15 seconds but during this time we could not even move due to the strength of the jolt. We ﬂed the building quickly as soon as the shaking stopped. The weather was extremely cold. Some of the people who gathered in the street were crying, while some were trying to calm those who were scared and in panic. The Edremit earthquake deeply shook the survivors who were trying to gradually overcome apprehension and fear. It was not easy after spending 10 days in the region to leave the hospitable and warmhearted Erciş people with whom we had happy moments. The news that our project would be carried on at Sevgi Nursery set up at the tent city by the Family and Social Policies Ministry relieved us to some exten

What lies ahead for Van? Aftershocks continued days after the Van-Erciş earthquake. Each aftershock causes huge panic among people and also makes it diﬃcult for them to get back to normal life. Any kind of assistance reaching Van-Erciş is vital for the earthquake survivors to resume their daily life. Ensuring the continuity of assistance and sparing the survivors the stress of worrying about the future and making them feel they are not alone will be the best service for them. Providing psychology, psychiatry, preschool education, guidance and counseling services in parallel with humanitarian relief works are vital to help earthquake survivors adapt to daily life

spotlight

22 EďŹ&#x20AC;ort cy Relief

Emergen

IHH EAST AFRICA EMERGENCY RELIEF EFFORT S

ince early July, the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation has been providing food and health aid to people who are striving to survive in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia in East Africa, which is going through the worst drought in six decades, and realizing long-lasting projects such as water wells, schools and houses one after another.

Somalia IHH relief works in Somalia to alleviate the impact of drought commenced in March 2011. Humanitarian assistance has been delivered to more than 2m people in the capital Mogadishu and Lower and Middle Shabelle regions since March. The amount of IHH aid shipments to Somalia reached TL 15,596,436 as of December 2011.

Kenya In Ifo, Dagahaley and Hagadari camps in Dadaab region on the Kenya-Somalia border, humanitarian relief materials have been distributed to 557,200 people as of December 2011. The amount of humanitarian supplies reaching the country amounted to TL 4,683,521.

Ethiopia The amount of humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia reached TL 1,511,310 as of December 2011.

spotlight

23 EďŹ&#x20AC;ort cy Relief

Emergen

Orphans Supported in Sponsor Family System Last update (December 2011)

Number of orphans

Somalia

3,008

Ethiopia

1,018

Djibouti

Total

4,076

Donations to IHH in East Africa Drought Campaign Last update (December 2011)

Amount of in-kind aid

TL 8,500,000

Amount of cash donations

TL 57,681,000

Grand Total

TL 66.,181,000

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24 Eﬀort cy Relief

Emergen

700-ton aid to Somalia The IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation and the Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management (AFAD) agency delivered 700 tons of basic food items and other necessities to Somalia with a cargo vessel on 18 October. The vessel that departed form Mersin Port on 18 October was carrying more than 5000 tons of relief supplies worth TL 16m and had contributions from Turkey’s Foreign Ministry,

Health Ministry, Religious Affairs Directorate, Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA), State Airports Authority, Red Crescent, Turkey Religious Foundation and NGOs like IHH. IHH has been delivering humanitarian materials such as baby biscuits, ﬂour, cooking oil, sugar, stationery sets, shoes, cloth and other basic necessities to East Africa since July.

spotlight

Africa IHH East EďŹ&#x20AC;ort cy Relief Emergen

Somali children return home Fourteen Somalian children, five of them with cardiac problems, who were brought to Turkey with the cooperation of IHH, Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) and Turkish Airlines on 13 September because they could not receive medical treatment in Somalia, returned to their country after a month-long treatment. Five of the children were treated at Mehmet Akif Ersoy Training

and Research Hospital and nine at Esenler Avicenna Hospital. Five-month-old Hani Ahmed was only 2.5 kilos when he was brought to Istanbul. His weight climbed to 6 kilos after a month-long treatment. Five of the children aged between two and 15 underwent a number of operations due to cardiac problems. The children and their attendants whose expenses were met by IHH returned home on 14 October.

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26 Eﬀort cy Relief

Emergen

Kuwait sends aid to Somalia via IHH IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, which has so far dispatched three aid vessels to drought-stricken Somalia, delivers to the region donations raised not only in Turkey but also in various countries. Kuwaiti Qawafel and Direct Aid organizations sent the donations they raised in Kuwait to Somalia with IHH’s 600-ton capacity cargo vessel. The vessel that departed Turkey and took onboard cargo at Kuwaiti Shuwaikh Port arrived in Mogadishu on 27 November. The distribution of the relief supplies in the region was coordinated by the IHH team on the ground.

Orphan complex to be built in Somalia IHH has been on the one hand carrying out emergency humanitarian activities to counter drought in Somalia, whose last two decades have been marked with civil war, political unrest and natural disasters, and on the other hand completing permanent projects for the local people. The foundations for an orphan complex in the Somali capital Mogadishu were laid in a ceremony attended by Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ and Turkish Ambassador to Somalia Cemalettin Kani Torun. The orphanage will cost about $2m and will have 200 boarding orphans. The complex will contain two separate orphanage buildings for girls and boys, a school with a 1400-student capacity, a clinic, a Quranic school, water well, a store and a mosque. The complex will be built on 12,000 square-meters of land and is estimated to be completed in a year.

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27 EďŹ&#x20AC;ort cy Relief

Emergen

Witnessesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; accounts in Dadaab Ali AyĂ§il We spent Eid al-Adha at Dadaab refugee camp on the Kenya-Somalia border as guests of IHH. It was my first visit to an African country. I had seen Dadaab camp on television many times before actually visiting it and had some information about Somali refugees based on what television stations aired. However, we once again witnessed the indescribable gap between reality and the broadcast on television screens. There are no aid agencies other than IHH operating in the region with an established, organized assistance program on the ground. There are only temporary volunteers who are there to deliver Qurban donations during Eid al-Adha. Almost all the voluntary organizations in the region, except for a group of Malaysian volunteers, are either from Turkey or members of Europe-based Turkish organizations. I got the chance to realize the significance of IHH for the Muslim world and humankind at Dadaab camp. I also saw that this institution has a much broader humanitarian mission and experience that could not be reduced to political headlines centered on the Mavi Marmara issue. I hope they will grow in the future to extend their hand wherever they are needed. I thank them for showing us what is happening elsewhere in the world.

interview

PEOPLE STARVE TO DEATH IN SOMALIA We talked to Shuayb Abdullatif, chairman of ZamZam Foundation, the Somali partner organization of the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, about the drought in Somalia. (Interview: Hafize Zehra Kavak) Mr. Abdullatif, as you know there has been a serious humanitarian crisis in Somalia over the last few months. What is the latest state of the humanitarian crisis in Somalia? What are the Somali people undergoing?

Life in Somalia is dependent on farming and livestock breeding, in other words on rain. But it has not rained for the last two years.

Somalia is currently experiencing diďŹ&#x192;cult days. As it is known the reason for the crisis is the long drought season. The impact of drought in Somalia reached extreme degrees in recent years but especially in the last six months. As you know life in Somalia is dependent on farming and livestock breeding, in other words on rain. Shortages of rainfall constitute a serious problem for Somalis. Animals and even people sometimes lose their lives because of lack of water. This is the case in southern and central Somalia. As far as we know political instability in Somalia dates long back. Political, social and economic conditions are not good. The Somali people had already been suffering from hunger and similar problems. But what worsened the situation and drove people to the brink of starvation?

Yes, you are right. Absence of a strong and effective government, stable politics and security atmosphere are major reasons for the humanitarian crisis in the country. However, the main reason behind the crisis that escalated the previous year is the drought-triggered shrinkage of resources. It is true there is no stable political order in Somalia and the government is weak. But this is not something new. What really causes people to starve to death is the spread of extreme drought. Some parts of Somalia were getting rainfall a few years ago but they also have not got any over the last two years.. What do you think should be done to counter the present crisis and similar humanitarian crises This is a very important question. First of all, humanitarian assistance projects in Somalia should be lasting. I think projects such as spreading modern farming techniques and constructing dams are vital. Arranging farmland, building water wells and irrigation canals and

etleri intervieGöw nüllü Faaliy

IHH does not work in a single field only. It realizes education and health projects, digs water wells, and supports orphans. The Somali people are grateful to IHH and the Turkish people.

increasing agricultural output are some of the things that should be done. Somalia needs these. Additionally, diversification of employment and income opportunities, and heavy and light industry investments are needed to develop Somalia. I reckon disasters that affect the masses will no longer happen if progress is made in these fields. On the other hand, Somalia also needs stability and security. The world should stand by Somalia so it can become stable again.

in southern areas are also provided help. We as the ZamZam Foundation delivered a significant amount of aid outside Mogadishu. Other agencies could not operate outside Mogadishu very often. Particular conditions contributed to this. In short, we cannot say aid is not reaching areas outside Mogadishu. We are delivering at least. However, aid distributions concentrate on Mogadishu and neighboring areas due to the demographic concentration in this part of the country.

Are there any problems with distribution of aid reaching the region? It is claimed aid could not be delivered outside Mogadishu. What would you like to say about this situation?

What is being done for people at risk of starvation?

This information is not exactly correct. Drought is affecting southern and central Somalia. The capital Mogadishu is located in the south of the country. Aid deliveries are directly coming into and stored in Mogadishu. People who know this come to Mogadishu and neighboring areas. Humanitarian supplies are distributed here in a just way. People living outside Mogadishu

It is true that people are dying of hunger and thirst in Somalia. We have been trying to stop this with aid distributions. Deaths from thirst are very rare now as a result. But people are still dying from hunger and diseases. To counter this situation aid deliveries should continue incessantly. Somalia is undergoing a diﬃcult crisis. What is the feeling in regards to facing such a crisis and witnessing people undergoing hardship?

A person in Turkey gets upset when learning his Somali brothers are hungry and he cannot eat or sleep. But actually living this is, unfortunately, indescribable. IHH has been implementing projects in Somalia for more than 15 years. How do you think IHH has contributed to the Somali life? The Somali people know what IHH is doing and appreciate this. IHH is a wellknown organization in Somalia. You are right, 15 years is not a short period. IHH does not work only in a single field. It realizes education and health projects, performs cataract surgeries, opens schools and madrasahs, digs water wells, and supports orphans. The Somali people are grateful to IHH and the Turkish people Is there anything you would like to add? I would like to express my thanks through you to the Turkish people and government for their assistance to the Somali people.

30 t h g spotli Orphan Solidarity

Days

ORPHAN SOLIDARITY DAYS Statistics show that each day thousands of children around the world become orphans due to wars, natural disasters, destitution and health problems. When we consider that in Iraq alone, about five million children have become orphans or homeless in the ongoing war, it is not diﬃcult to predict the alarming extent of the problem. Unfortunately, it is not possible to say that there is global sensitivity and concern about the issue of orphans and homeless children. The IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation is following a twotiered approach to orphan care. The first step is to reach out to children who have been made orphans or homeless for various reasons around the world and who have become the target of human traﬃckers, missionary organizations, or those dealing in the illicit trade of human organs and the second step is to raise public awareness against war, occupation, natural disaster, fatal diseases and other causes behind orphanhood. Events such as Orphan Support Days and, IHH International Orphan Get-Together Program which will be held for the fifth time this year, aim to put the problems and needs of an estimated 165m orphans worldwide on the agenda of Turkey and the world.

With orphans in March in 36 countries IHH is organizing “Orphan Support Days” between 16-31 March to meet with orphans, provide moral support and monitor orphan care activities on site. The event that will be held for a second time on the same date in 2012 is planned to be held regularly just like Ramadan and Qurban campaigns. During Orphan Support Days, we bring together 23,282 orphans - that IHH looks after in different parts of the world with their sponsor families and volunteers in Turkey or visit the orphans at their homes or orphanages in the countries they reside with our volunteers, donators, health teams and reporters. In these visits, depending on local need, we distribute clothes, stationery materials, blankets and beds, foodstuffs, perform health screenings, help with wedding of marriage-age youths and circumcision ceremonies, and meet other needs of orphans and their families. In addition to meeting the needs of orphans, Orphan Support Days events are an opportunity to oversee and report orphan care activities of local partner organizations of IHH and advise the organizations on future projects for orphans. IHH does orphan care works in 36 countries including Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Chad, Ghana, Sudan, Tanzania, Djibouti, Mauritania, Indonesia/Aceh, Pakistan, Arakan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Philippines-Mindanao, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Thailand/ Pattani, Kashmir, Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania, Ecuador, Haiti, Tajikistan, Chechnya, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Rwanda, Malawi and Turkey. The foundation will visit 22 countries as part of the 2012 Orphan Support Days. In the remaining 14 countries, activities will be carried out via local partner organizations.

spotlight

ort cy Relie DfaEyﬀs EmSeorgliednarity

Orphan Support Days (16-31 March 2011) Witnesses’ accounts I am Hatice Ensar Uçar. I am a volunteer with the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation. We went to the Philippines with a group of seven people for the IHH 2011 Orphan Support Days program and inaugurated an orphanage built in Mindanao with funds from IHH volunteers. We went shopping, and went on a picnic and tour with the orphans we visited and had a great time. We gave them the presents we brought from Turkey such as balloons, chocolates, candies, etc. but what they really needed was a helping hand and someone stroking their heads and standing by them. The day we went on a picnic we gave the children some presents. I had nothing left on me to give so I took off my IHH vest and gave it to the children. It makes me wonder whether they would have been this happy if I had given them the deed of a house for example. I saw the happiness in the children’s eyes, breathed the atmosphere there and now I want to do more for them. As much as I care about my children and want them to have everything and work for this, I wish the same for the children in the Philippines. It was time to go back and we headed for the orphanage early in the morning. The time was quite early for the kids but they were all outside and gave us a lively welcome. It was very hard for all of us to leave them. I cannot forget the sadness I felt at that moment. Allah willing I will be able to go there again with my family. We are now planning to organize a charity event for the children.

spotlight

solidarity

days

Orphan Support Days (16-31 March 2011) Witnesses’ accounts I am Orhan Demirel. I am a landscape architect and a volunteer with the Ankara Humanitarian Relief Association. Last year I went to Bangladesh with a group of seven people for the IHH 2010 Orphan Support Days. The IHH Orphan Care Department had organized a wedding ceremony for a number of young orphans. The fact that girls pay dowries to the families of their future husbands makes it diﬃcult for the girls to get married in Bangladesh. So we paid the dowry of the orphan girls who could not get married and organized their wedding ceremonies. Health screening for the orphans, circumcision ceremonies and visits to families of orphans were some of the activities we did. I do not know how to relate what I witnessed there because it is hard to see conditions there from here. We visited a family living in a dilapidated house on a rainy day. The woman there said they could not go for plants collection for two days because of rain and were therefore without any food. We saw the hardships in refugee camps. I could not sleep for a month when I returned to Turkey. I could not forget the scenes I witnessed. I was especially moved when the children wrapped their hands around my neck and cried as we departed. I understood that we can really pay for their expenses by a monthly donation of €35. Even a family can live on this amount there. I believe our donations should continue increasingly.

Africa IHH East EďŹ&#x20AC;ort cy Relief Emergen

activities activities

activities

activities activities

activities

activitie activities

>activities activities activities faaliyetler activities

activities

Qurban

QURBANI CAMPA CAMPAIIGN IN 95 COUNTRIES AND REGIONS The IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation delivered 37,500 shares of Qurban donated by charity-givers in Turkey through proxy to those in need in 95 countries and regions.

CHAD

CRIMEA

PATTANI GAZA

activities

Qurban

he IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation delivered 37,500 shares of Qurban donated by charity-givers in Turkey through proxy to those in need in 95 countries and regions. Among the countries included in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Qurban campaign was the Philippines/Mindanao, the first country to mark Eid al-Adha. Our teams sacrificed 500 shares of Qurban in Mindanao region. Somalia, the African country which is going through the worst drought in 60 years, received one of the highest portions of Qurban donations this year. About 11,500 shares of sacrificial slaughters were performed and distributed in Somalia. In Turkey, Qurban slaughters and meat distributions were carried out in 60 provinces, including Van province. IHH teams have been distributing tents, blankets, clothes, shoes and food items, setting up rehabilitation centers for children and serving locals with a mobile kitchen ever since the 7.2-magnitude massive and devastating earthquake on 23 October, and they marked Eid al-Adha with Van residents in tents and distributed Qurban shares from door to door.

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

ALBANIA NEPAL

activities

Qurban

KYRGYZSTAN

ROMANIA SOMALIA

Since its establishment in 1992, IHH has been holding Qurban campaigns in regions hit by war, civil unrest, and disasters, and reaching out to refugees, the displaced, orphans and the homeless. Our teams of volunteers and staff members not only deliver Qurban shares to people in need but also observe IHH projects on site, supervise charity projects such as schools, orphanages, hospitals, masjids and educational centers, and undertake fieldwork for future projects.

At a time when feelings of acquaintanceship, fraternity and solidarity reach their peak we express our thanks for sharing your sacrifices on behalf of all the people in need.

KENYA, DADAAB

activities

Qurban

Qurban 2011 Witnesses’ accounts Abdülhamit Ateş (Georgia, Akhaltsikhe) We are guests at Mr. Yunus’ house in Akhaltsikhe. He is serving us a treat. Mr. Yunus could not return to his home country in 2007. His father was sent into exile in Uzbekistan in 1944 and they later migrated to Azerbaijan, and he has been living here since 2007. His father travelled to Azerbaijan in 2009 to visit his relatives but could not come back because Georgia denied him entry at the border. He has been living with his grandmother for two years. The grandmother preferred the homeland to her husband. She is waiting for him to return. This is one example of Meskhetians’ longing for life and return to their homeland. The Georgian parliament granted Meskhetians the right to return in 2007. The new law gives Meskhetians the right to life in Akhaltsikhe. However, the law did not materialize in practice. More than 5000 families have applied so far but only 75 of them have been given permission to return.

activities

Qurban

Qurban 2011 Witnesses’ accounts Hüseyin Goncagül (Poland) On the second day of Eid al-Adha we visited a large refugee camp where Chechen families, widows and orphans were sheltered. The refugee children who have been living in the camp for the last ten years have to fight for a better tomorrow since their future seems uncertain. We learnt that daily needs of the camp housing mostly women and children are met by the UN and the Polish government. Monthly $10 per capita is given to the refugees as allowance. The amount is far from adequate to pay for children’s clothing, books and educational materials. Tatar Muslims have embraced their Chechen brothers and sisters. Asylum conditions here are better compared to Turkey. They can at least attend school and receive treatment at hospitals because they are given identifications. Upon our arrival at the camp we shook their hand and greeted them with our common slogan “Salam Alaikum” and “Bajram Mubarak” since we could not speak their languages, namely Chechen and Polish. Later we divided Qurban meat into equal shares and distributed it equally among them.

CHAD

activities

Qurban

Qurban 2011 Witnesses’ accounts Oğuzhan Ulaş (Jammu Kashmir) The density of Indian troops in the region is easily noticeable. It is estimated that there are about 700,000 Indian forces in Kashmir. You come across heavilyarmed soldiers anywhere you go at any step you take. High-walled military barracks meet your gaze as you leave the airport. You run into numerous military checkpoints that cut your speed in arterial roads. Indian troops are everywhere. Helipads and military bases have been set up on top of all hills overlooking towns and villages. The issue complained about the most during our talks with local intellectuals is the lack of international attention to the Kashmir question. Unfortunately over 80,000 people have so far lost their lives to the ordeal and oppression in Kashmir and over 100,000 children have been made orphans and homeless. Due to the damage it suffered in the armed conﬂict, Kashmir, which deserves the title “Asian Paradise,” has fallen behind Turkey by about 50 years. However, Kashmiri people are arduous, patient and have high self-esteem. They have no doubt the free Kashmir ideal will become real one day.

activities

Social aid

ORPHAN CARE WORKS I

HH, which added in 2007 the Sponsor Family System project to the orphan care program it has been realizing since 1992 in war, occupation and natural disaster zones, has undertaken care of 23,282 orphans in 36 countries and regions, including Turkey. As a result of ongoing humanitarian efforts, 1964 orphan children in 30 provinces across Turkey have been included in the Sponsor Family Project. Besides supporting orphans and their families with this project, IHH also assists orphans periodically with Ramadan, Qurban, education, health and similar social aid projects.

You can also assume care of one or more than one orphan by a monthly donation of â&#x201A;Ź35/$50 for at least a year or make any kind of donation or give support to our orphan fund. To join this charity drive you can fill out the sponsor family application form at http://www.ihh. org.tr/yetimtalep/en/yeni .

activities

Social aid

We marked Eid al-Adha with orphans IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation prioritized widows and orphans in its Qurban campaign in 95 countries and gave orphans new clothes for the holiday. Our humanitarian teams visited scores of countries around the world as part of Eid al-Adha campaign and distributed clothes to orphans. IHH clothed 3000 orphans in Turkey and 8950 in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mauritania, Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Pakistan and Palestine. The teams also visited newly-opened orphanages in Aceh, Mindanao/ Philippines, Pakistan and Bangladesh, celebrated Eid al-Adha with orphans and shared their joy with gifts. In Pattani, Malawi and Afghanistan, the orphanages under construction were visited and the progress was reported. An orphanage being built with funds from Istanbul BoÄ&#x;aziĂ§i University students in Blantyre, Malawi, where 650,000 children have been made orphan by AIDS, was also visited. The orphanage will be completed in January and will provide shelter to 40 Malawian orphans.

23,282 orphans in 36 countries and regions The IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation is increasingly reaching out to more countries and regions, and giving a helping hand to orphans. This year Bosnia-Herzegovina, Malawi, Kashmir, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pattani, Rwanda and Van Province in Turkey were added to the IHH orphan care program. As of December 2011, 50 orphans in Bosnia, 30 in Malawi, 50 in Kashmir, 30 in Tajikistan, 29 in Kyrgyzstan, 50 in Pattani, 30 in Rwanda and 114 in Van-Turkey are growing up with your contributions. Throughout the same year 7345 orphan children were added to the Sponsor Family System.

activities

Social aid

IHH supports 23,282 orphans in 36 countries and regions AFRICA Burkina Faso 80 • Somalia 3.008 • Sierra Leone 300 • Ethiopia 1.018 • Chad 195 • Ghana 100 • Sudan 404 • Tanzania 297 • Djibouti 50 • Mauritania 200 • Malawi 30 • Rwanda 30

SOUTH AMERICA Ecuador 7 • Haiti 52

MIDDLE EAST Palestine 10.479 • Iraq 2.238 • Lebanon 380 • Yemen 50

activities

Social aid

TURKEY

BALKANS Bosnia-Herzegovina 50 • Kosova 65 • Macedonia 184 • Albania 458

2.126

CAUCASIA Chechnya 170

SOUTHEAST ASIA Aceh 86 • Pakistan 509 • Arakan 54 • Bangladesh 50 • Sri Lanka 300 • Philippines/Moro 40 • Pattani 50

CENTRAL ASIA Kashmir 50 • Afghanistan 98 • Kyrgyzstan 29 • Tajikistan 30 • Kazakhstan 15

activities

Social aid

Acehnese orphans start university Wildanun Sudirman, Yuni Rahmayanti and Novita Sari, some of the first guests of Aceh Istanbul orphanage, have grown up and are ready to go to university. The three girls decided to study in Istanbul and started in October Turkish language classes. The Acehnese girls, whose education and accommodation expenses will be met by IHH throughout their education in Turkey, will return to Aceh after graduating and work for the future of their country with your support. The 2004 tsunami in Aceh killed 232,000 people and made a large number of children orphans. The IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation delivered assistance to the region after the disaster hit and founded Aceh Istanbul Orphanage to protect the orphans. The orphanage is housing 86 children now.

activities

Social aid

Psychological support to families of orphans The IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation launched a project to psychologically support families of orphan children as part of its orphan care program. The project started with 16 families who applied to our foundation under the supervision of IHH oﬃcials and voluntary experts. Counseling sessions are led by a voluntary team including Neslihan Arıcı, Sümeyye Rale Çalış, Hatice Kübra Aslan and Sezgin Bulut. As part of the project, orphans and mothers of orphans in need of psychological counseling receive regular therapy and are directed to related treatment centers.

activities

Social aid

Food aid to Syrian refugees In Syria, army units have been attacking civilians since early March. Fearing for their safety thousands of Syrians have sought shelter in Lebanon. The IHH Humanitarian Relief

Foundation

regularly

delivering

humanitarian aid to the Syrian refugee families that are living in hard conditions. IHH teams visited the families in Wadi Melid and Meshte areas and distributed food items and filled gas cylinders to 250 families. The foundation has been distributing aid to 3500 refugees since the day they arrived in Lebanon and is working to assess their needs. IHH is planning to deliver another round of relief supplies to the Syrian refugees in the coming days.

Emergency aid to Thailand In Thailand, where monsoon rains bring floods every year, heavy rains that fell in July killed 602 people. Estimates show that the floods affected 2.3m people and caused $5.1 billion damage. IHH delivered emergency aid to Thailand after it was hit by the worst flooding disaster in five decades. IHH teams distributed food items to 700 families in the capital Bangkok and Pathum Thani, two of the regions worst hit in the floods.

activities

Social aid

Water wells bestow life IHH is carrying on digging water wells in regions where access to clean drinking water is restricted. The project to dig water wells started in 2000 and has blessed and revived dried lands of Africa and Asia. IHH opened another 172 water wells the previous month in Ethiopia, Somalia, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cameroon and Kenya in Africa, and Kashmir and Kyrgyzstan in Asia. As of December, the number of wells opened in the campaign reached 2572.

activities

Social aid

Pakistan recovering from flood damage The IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation is gradually materializing more and more long-

from Bursa IHH who made a six-day visit to Pakistan

term projects in Pakistan, where consecutive ďŹ&#x201A;oods

in December took part in opening ceremonies for

have inďŹ&#x201A;icted huge damage, made millions homeless

orphanages and mosques, presented bicycles to 100

and damaged infrastructure substantially over the

children, organized the wedding of 15 young couples

last two years. A 21-member team of oďŹ&#x192;cials from the

and gathered with orphans at IHH-built orphanages of

IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation and volunteers

Haripur, Rara and Msal.

activities

Social aid

Abdulhamed II Mosque opens in Muzaffargarh Abdulhamed II Mosque, whose foundation was laid two years ago with funds from Bursa IHH volunteers, has been opened in Muzaffargarh, a city located between Indus and Chenab rivers in the south of Punjab Province with a population of 2.5m people. The opening ceremony of the mosque in Hamzawala, a town in Muzaffargarh that was worst hit in last year’s floods, was attended by IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation officials, Bursa IHH volunteers and officials from Khubaib Foundation, a partner of IHH in the region. The mosque was built on a 150-square-meter land donated by a charitable resident of Hamzawala.

activities

Social aid

Orphanage opened in Haripur Emir Sultan Orphanage, which was planned and constructed in a short period as part of the Haripur Orphan Education Complex following the 2010 ﬂooding disaster in Haripur city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan, has been inaugurated. The orphanage will accommodate 210 orphans. The opening ceremony was attended by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Masood Kausar, the Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Babür Hızlan as well as scores of Turkish and Pakistani guests. When completed the Haripur Orphan Education Complex will accommodate 800 orphans and offer education to 2000 students in total. In addition to the Emir Sultan Orphanage, two dining halls, sports and conference halls, educational institutions from kindergarten to university level and social facilities and 3 more orphanages will be built inside the 10ha complex.

activities

Social aid

Pakistani orphans wed One of the programs held by the IHH team in Hamzawala was a mass wedding ceremony. The wedding ceremony of 15 young couples was fully-paid by IHH. The team gave various presents to the newly-wed couples and the program ended with a banquet.

activities

e aid Healthcar

54,909 Africans regain vision with cataract surgeries In Africa, half of the 12m people with ocular problems suffer from cataract. In Niger, Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia in the Sahara region there is one doctor per 40,000 people, while millions of people never see a doctor in their lifetime. The IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, which in 2007 launched cataract operations in African with the slogan “They will see if you help” is continuing to cure blindness of cataract patients with your support. As of the end of November the number of people examined in the four-year long Africa Cataract Project reached 190,505 and the number of those undergoing operation to 54,909. The project is in progress in Sudan, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia. The project in which charitable people can finance a cataract operation by donating €60/$80 aims to cure blindness of 100,000 cataract patients.

activities

e aid Healthcar

AFRICA CATARACT PROJECT (Last update: November 2011)

Country

Field screening

Examination

Operation

Togo

15,000

5,000

300

Benin

12,900

4,300

390

Ghana

6,900

2,300

281

Chad

1,740

580

150

Sierra Leone

22,890

7,630

1,000

Niger

6,630

2,210

525

Sudan

283,695

94,565

27,982

Ethiopia

117,483

39,161

14,281

Somalia

104,262

34,759

10,000

TOTAL

571,500

190,505

54,909

activities

al aid Education

EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE T

he IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation delivered educational help to four Balkan countries at the beginning of the 2011-2012 education year. In Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Macedonia, 845 students were given educational materials. In the Macedonian towns of Skopje-Chair, Saraj, Studenicanit, Haraqines, Dolneni, Krusevo, Osllomes and Tetova, 300 children were given in October gift packs of pencils, notebooks, bags, crayons, rulers, drawing books, pencil sharpeners, watercolor paints and erasers. In 12 schools in Bulgaria, sets of bags, notebooks, rulers, pencils, erasers, paints and crayons were distributed among 200 children. In Fier in southwestern Albania, 235 children were given notebooks, pencils, compasses, ruler sets and study books. In the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, items including bags, pencils, pencil holders, crayons, sets of six A4 notebooks, and painting pens were distributed among 110 children.

55 r le t e faaaclityivitieitsim Yardımları Eğ

Dubai meeting on fighting blindness A meeting to fight blindness, which was organized between 20-21 November in the Emirati state Dubai with the sponsorship of the Islamic Development Bank and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), brought together different organizations working in the field of eye health such as Noor Dubai, World Health Organization (WHO), IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, Al-Basar International Foundation, Sheikh Zayed Foundation, Middle East Africa Council of Ophthalmology (MEACO), CHEF International and Vision 2020. The meeting discussed the roadmap drawn by WHO in the areas of glaucoma, eye health, diabetic retinopathy, eye health services to students, preventive eye care, preventable blindness, visual impairment, and suggestions and solutions for public health. IHH was represented at the meeting by Durmuş Aydın, Deputy Chairman for Foreign Affairs, İhsan Özyürek, Africa Cataract Project Coordinator. The representatives shared with the participants fieldwork experience of the IHH, which has been performing in Africa and Asia for five years.

Mavi Marmara conference in Baku The bloody attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla was commemorated once again by the witnesses with “To Freedom with Mavi Marmara” conference in the Azerbaijani capital Baku. The Mavi Marmara passengers, members of the Azerbaijan Parliament, politicians and representatives of civil society organizations attended the conference that was held by Asian Dialogue Social Union in October. The conference received immense interest from the Azerbaijani public and was followed by a large number of press agencies.

activities

IHH attends ICHAD meeting in Doha IHH attended a meeting of the Humanitarian Affairs Department of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (ICHAD) on 12 December in the Qatari capital Doha. Hüseyin Oruç, member of the IHH executive board, shared the 20-year experience of IHH in humanitarian field with the participants. The meeting was organized by the Qatari Red Crescent and chaired by ICHAD Director Ambassador Atta al-Manan Bakhit, and was attended by IHH as well as NGOs from Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Britain.The institutional organization of the ICHAD, its role in humanitarian and political crises, and broadening and empowering its mission were discussed at the meeting. Speaking on behalf of IHH, Oruç shared IHH’s experience on the ground with the delegation and presented his suggestions in the field of humanitarian aid.

Iara Lee

Mavi Marmara activists mark Helsinki Lens Politica Film Festival Lens Politica Film and Media Art Festival, which is held annually in Finnish capital Helsinki, met the audience with the theme of “Resistance” this year. The festival, held between 16-20 November, also showed the documentary films by the activists and documentary film makers David Segarra and Iara Lee, who are among the witnesses of the attack on 31 May 2010 on the Mavi Marmara, the leading vessel of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. The 2011 film “Fire on the Mavi Marmara” by Venezuelan activist, journalist and documentary film maker David Segarra, was presented to the audience as the festival’s opening film. In his documentary, Segarra analyses the themes of “oppressor” “the oppressed” and “resistance” heading from the Israeli attack that he personally witnessed and voices the suffering of people victimized by historical events such as the “Holocaust” “the Exodus” and “the 1973 military coup in Chile” as well as the question of Palestine. Korean-Brazilian documentary film maker Iara Lee was onboard the Mavi Marmara on 31 May 2011 like Segarra and she was the only person who managed to release the video footage of the attack by hiding it from Israeli soldiers. Lee’s film that met Finnish documentary lovers is titled “Cultures of Resistance”. The film that contains video footage from conﬂict zones in South America, Africa and the Middle East focuses on “resistanceinspired” art works. Festival participants Swedish musician and activist Dror Feiler, Ümit Sönmez, IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation Deputy Chair for Communication, and attorney of the Mavi Marmara victims Cihat Gökdemir delivered speeches at workshops that followed the documentary shows and answered questions regarding the Mavi Marmara David Segarra

activities

“Marmara Theatre” on Al Jazeera anniversary The Qatar-based international news television station Al Jazeera marked its 15th anniversary in Doha. The celebration started on 11 November with the premiere of “Marmara Theatre,” an act played by Al Jazeera staff and produced by Qatari Ministry of Art and Culture and Al Jazeera television. The play was staged at the Qatar National Theatre and giant screens showed real footage shot onboard the Mavi Marmara and the speech of Archbishop Hilarion Capucci, played by prominent Egyptian actor Wajdi al-Arabi, to the passengers onboard. The play of 70 theatre artists, 10 of them Turkish, was staged in Turkish, English and Arabic. Play writer Muhammed Abdulmuti said he used in the writing of the play witness accounts of Al Jazeera

reporters onboard the Mavi Marmara Osman al-Bitiri, Jamal el-Shayyal and Ali Sabri, personal diaries and blogs of other activists on the boat and the interview he and the director Salim el-Cuhushi conducted with IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation Chairman Bülent Yıldırım at the initial phase of the play. Flotilla passengers Sheikh Ekrem Qassab, member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, Hanin Zoabi, member of the Israeli Parliament-Knesset, Muhammad Gulam Veled al-Hac al-Sheikh, Secretary-General of the Mauritanian Delegation to Support Palestinian People and leading figures from non-governmental organizations were among those who were played in the play.

Charity envoy pays homage to Miyazaki Atsushi Miyazaki and Miyuki Konnai, Japanese volunteers who came to the city of Van to join humanitarian efforts after the city was hit by an earthquake were trapped under the debris of a hotel that was destroyed in a 5.6-magnitude aftershock. Konnai was pulled alive but Atsushi could not be saved despite all efforts. IHH representative Selimhan İbrahim Kılıç attended the funeral ceremony for Atsushi held in Japan. Kılıç also paid a visit to the family and colleagues of Miyuki Konnai, who was pulled alive from the debris of the hotel..

58ts c je o r p e r futu in brief

Lebanon/Sponsorship project for disabled children

ince the occupation of Palestine in 1948 hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been fighting for survival in neighboring countries. Lebanon is one of the countries housing the displaced Palestinians in the Middle East for generations. Half of the 400,000 Palestinians

in Lebanon are still living in refugee camps. The project devised aims to support families of children with mental disability, autism, or cerebral palsy and who need special care, with a monthly amount of $50. The sponsorship will last for 12 months and will cost $600 per child.

jects o r p e r u t u f in brief

Nepal/Mosque project

he south Asian country of Nepal is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world with a population of 29m people. One quarter of the Nepalese population lives below the poverty line. Islam is the third major religion in the country with 2m followers and is spreading fast. Vigorous efforts of associations and foundations in the region have been contributing to this process. Jamiatul Islah Al-Islamia, which operates in Sunsari-Ramnagar Bhutaha town where around 7000 Muslims live, is one of these associations. The project aims to construct a new mosque for the Muslim population since the old one is failing to meet the needs of the growing congregation. The mosque will provide Muslims with a place for communal praying and an educational venue for Quranic training. The mosque will be built on a land owned by Jamiatul Islah Al-Islamia and is expected to be completed in 18 months after securing funding. The total cost of the project is $100,000.

60ts c je o r p e r futu in brief

Bangladesh/Children education center project

ordering Myanmar and India in South Asia, Bangladesh is one of the most crowded countries in the world with a population of 158m people. About 90% of the population is Muslim. The 47 percent literacy rate in the country is one of the lowest in the world. In the capital Dhaka 1.5m of the 15m population live in huts and makeshift houses in slums scattered on both sides of the city without any health, education, safety or other basic public services. Local children who are at school age but cannot attend school because of financial diďŹ&#x192;culties become the target of human traďŹ&#x192;ckers, gangs of thieves, and prostitution mafia. The project plans to open 10 educational centers that will provide impoverished neighborhoods of Dhaka with primary school classes

in parallel with state schools. The centers will offer vitamin and energy-rich lunches and necessary health services to encourage attendance. Retired teachers and young graduates with no jobs will be employed to help bring down unemployment in the country. The project aims to offer accelerated primary school training at the 10 centers to 1000 children, particularly orphans, child laborers and disabled children, who have never been to school or dropped out in the past and who will be selected through oral and written testing as well as through reference. The project will be initiated a month after funding is secured. The total cost of the project including the cost of books, pencils, bags, uniforms, lunches as well as rent and organization is $215,000.

jects o r p e r u t u f in brief

Sri Lanka/Health clinic project

ri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island nation in South Asia located 31 km off southern coast of India. The country has a population of 22m people. The civil war that erupted in 1983 between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil guerrillas that aimed to create an independent state in northern and eastern parts of the country displaced millions of people and inflicted heavy damage on the infrastructure. The project plans to open a health clinic in the town of Manchanthoduvai, Batticaloa in eastern Sri Lanka. The town of 3000 households has no health institutions that can offer health services. The project aims to address this need. A health clinic with two examination rooms and two office rooms will be constructed on 124-square-meters of land. The total cost of the project, including construction materials, workmanship and administrative expenses, is €29,400.

62ts c je o s r ie p it e r u afcuttiv

Eastern Macedonia / Mosque maintenance and furnishing project he project plans to repair, maintain and furnish 10 mosques that are half-completed or in need of restoration Tin the impoverished villages of Strumica and Štip.

Region

Muslim population

Project

St. Bardovçi – Strumica

230

Maintenance and electric wiring for the mosque

€9,660

Gradosko – Strumica

890

Room construction for mosque personnel and banisters

€8,650

Piperovo- Strumica

150

Coﬀin bench

€1,100

Dobralinci- Strumica

150

Toilets and bathing cubicle

€1,505

İlovica- Strumica

400

Maintenance for the mosque and minaret

€2,036

Ernekük- Strumica

150

Toilets and coﬀin bench

€1,837

3,000

Stairs for the minaret, banisters for upstairs, fence for the courtyard, landscaping for the mosque entrance, whitewashing, showers and toilets

€8,500

Viniça- Štip TOTAL

Total cost

€37,306

activities

activities Volunteer

VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES The biggest contribution to activities of IHH, which is founded on the principle of volunteerism, belongs to our voluntary friends who devote their time, labor and patience day and night. IHH volunteers materialize with vigor and patience longlasting projects to find solutions to problems of the needy in Turkey and the world on the one hand, and on the other hand promote the humanitarian assistance mission of IHH through conferences, art exhibitions, seminars and similar events. Over the last three months our volunteers carried out various actions such as delivering emergency relief to Van, working on orphan programs, financing water well construction and so on.

Youth help African orphans Istanbul Boğaziçi University students, who previously raised funds with different campaigns such as “Bookmarker” project for cataract surgeries and orphan care activities in Africa and recently undertook the funding for an orphanage in Malawi, came up with another action for the benefit of orphans. The group of students who publish Kampüsten Dünyaya (From Campus to World) magazine and realized the Bookmarker project, organized African Orphans Night in Istanbul, Uskudar on 11 December with the attendance of academics, writers and artists. The program included a concert, poetry reading, introduction of projects by university students, a video show, and an award ceremony for the international “Hunger, Obesity and Death” cartoon contest. The program brought together prominent figures such as Dhoruba Bin Wahad, Hakan Albayrak, İbrahim Sadri, Mesut Kurtiş, Ali Ayçil, Bünyamin Doğruer, Cüneyt Suavi, Dağıstan Çetinkaya, Hasan Aycın, İhsan Kabil, Mesut Karaşahan, Mesut Uçakan, Tarık Tufan, Vehbi Vakkasoğlu, Yusuf Armağan, and Yusuf Kot.

activities

activities Volunteer

“Let borders be your, Africa ours” The July 16 Youth Movement is building 30 water wells in Somalia with the slogan “Let borders be your, Africa ours.” The movement raised funds by selling t-shirts, posters and bookmarkers and donated the money to IHH. The water wells will be named Furkan Doğan, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, Omar Mukhtar, Necmettin Erbakan, Adnan Demirtürk, Atıf Hodja of İskilip, Hassan al-Banna, Imam Abdullah Haroon, Bahattin Yıldız, Alija Izetbegovic, al-Hajj Malik al-Shabazz (Malcolm X), Bilal al-Habashi, Sumayyah bint Khayyat, Abdulhamid Khan II, Zainab Gazzali, Metin Yüksel, Mücahid Şener, Sayyid Qutb, Özlem Özyurt, Shamil Basayev, Bülent Tuna, Bilal Yaldızcı, Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu, Bediuzzaman Said-i Nursi, Abdulkadir Geylani, Faruk Aktaş, Hacı Veyiszade Mustafa Kurucu Effendi, İsa Yusuf Alptekin and Tahir Büyükkörükçü..

Helping hand from Sandzak to Somalia An aid campaign was launched for Somalia in Sandzak, a strategic region located in the Balkans between BosniaHerzegovina and Kosova. The funds raised with the campaign that was co-organized by Bereket Foundation and Svetianik Foundation in the Novi Pazar town of Sandzak will be used for humanitarian projects in Somalia through IHH.

IHH delivers Bahrain help to Somalia Members of the Bahrain-based Promise Africa donated the funds they raised in an aid campaign for Somalia to IHH. The donations of Bahraini volunteers will be used to distribute food, dig water wells and buy clothes for orphan children in drought-stricken Somalia. A nine-member team from Promise Africa visited Dadaab camp and observed IHH fieldwork for three days. On a separate occasion a group of secondary and high-school students from Bahrain’s AlIslah Society visited IHH headquarters and were briefed on the foundation’s history and activities.

activities

activities Volunteer

Voluntary activities spreading Our volunteers worked at the stands set up in Istanbul’s Cevahir and Olivium shopping centers to promote the foundation’s activities and Qurban campaign. The volunteers also organized a night at Bağlarbaşı Cultural Center for the benefit of Palestinian orphans. The night program started with a speech by Hasan Aynacı, IHH Middle East Desk coordinator, and was presented by İbrahim İnecik. Grup Genç, Serdar Tuncer, Mustafa Cihat, Ömer Karaoğlu and whirling dervishes performed in the program. Balarısı Nursery and Bilgi Evi students visited our foundation and donated the money boxes they had saved for Somali children. IHH volunteers in Başakşehir neighborhood came together at the Orphan Support center. They were briefed here about voluntary activities and helping. IHH volunteers in the city of Çankırı held a charity fair for Somalia and raised enough money for two water wells. In Samsun City, IHH volunteers gathered in a ticketed hall program to pay for clothing expenses of Albanian and Bosnian orphans supported with the IHH Sponsor Family System. IHH volunteers in Van donated the funds they raised for Somalia in a charity fair. In the city of Muş, IHH volunteers bought clothes for 30 orphans with money raised with a charity fair. IHH volunteers in Gönen, on the other hand, collected two trucks of inkind aid for Somalia and donated it to our foundation. In Yozgat, IHH volunteers organized a week-long fair to buy clothes for orphan children for Eid al-Adha. Charity events were organized for the benefit of Somalia by IHH volunteers in Kütahya, Aydın, Elazığ, Erzurum, Çankırı, Gönen, Rize and Germany. Volunteers in Niksar, Tokat raised enough funds with a hall program to buy a ﬂour grinding machine for a Somali family.

Van aid drive Students from Şehir University and Istanbul University Forestry Faculty raised funds for Van with a charity fair and sent it to the earthquake zone via our foundation. Istanbul University Theology Faculty students organized a concert for the benefit of Van earthquake victims. Volunteers in the city of Çankırı supported the victims with a charity fair. IHH volunteers in Istanbul’s Ümraniye, Kumkapı, Kartal, Kâğıthane, Güngören and Zeytinburnu neighborhoods held charity fairs and collected in-kind aid for the people affected in the Van earthquake. Various aid campaigns were organized for the affected people in Van by our volunteers in Erzurum, Kırklareli, Trabzon, Diyarbakır, Kocaeli, Isparta, Maraş, Tokat and Pendik-Istanbul. They also made contributions to the IHH Van Emergency Relief Campaign.

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GAZA STILL FAR-OFF… Recep Köse Each Qurban season we hit the roads with a slogan to come together with our brothers and sisters around the globe. This year’s slogan is “As Close as Qurban.” How close is Gaza, in other words Palestine, to us? Although we as people who closely follow the Palestine issue know the answer to some extent, we need to hit the roads for Gaza again and again to see the extent of the distance and inaccessibility and to mobilize humankind. I was going to travel for the 2011 Qurban campaign to Palestine, where I had previously tried to visit three times but could only manage to enter Gaza in 2009 with Viva Palestina land convoy. The Freedom Flotilla that set out in 2010 with hundreds of peace volunteers came under an armed Israeli raid, nine of our friends were killed, tens of them were wounded and all the activists were detained

This is Gaza During the nine-day stay in the area we traveled the entire Gaza Strip from the east to the west and from the north to the south. A lot has changed in Gaza since the 22-day long Operation Cast Lead in December 2008 when we managed to enter the area. The talks we had with local people pointed to the Mavi Marmara initiative as one of the prime factors in this change. The debris of the buildings collapsed in the attacks has been removed and the area has been completely cleared of any kind of traces from the strikes. Several collapsed buildings we saw were bombed by Israel recently. Israeli bombardments have become a routine for the local people. Gaza streets are full of children and the marketplace is bustling with people.

and later deported. On our third attempt to enter Gaza we were kept in custody for five hours and deported to Turkey afterwards. We are planning to cross into Gaza for a Qurban event this time with a group of seven people via Egypt. We are two days away from Eid al-Adha holiday and the Rafah border crossing is about to close. Time is limited and the border is crowded with Palestinians trying to cross into Gaza. The hustling at the border shows crossing from and into Gaza is allowed. That makes us happy. We begin the formalities for crossing. We handed the documents we got from the Turkish embassy in Cairo and acceptance letters from the Palestinian Authority to border oﬃcials and start waiting. Time runs, many come and go, guards change but we only stay fixed. After a long wait we are finally allowed to enter Gaza…

ld in the fGiöenüllü Faaliyetleri Qurban blessing in Gaza streets The first day of Eid al-Adha in Gaza is spent by family members conducting visits to relatives. We joined in this tradition and made some visits as well. The first place we visited was the “Furkan Doğan house” close to the Gaza border. This house was destroyed in the Israeli Operation “Cast Lead”, and was rebuilt by IHH preserving its original architecture and named “Furkan Doğan”, one of the activists killed on the Mavi Marmara. We met the family owning the house and celebrated their holiday. One of the most frequently discussed topics in Gaza during the holiday was the release of Palestinian detainees in exchange for Shalit. It was on the top of the Palestinian public agenda. We met one of the freed Palestinians. He still cannot believe to have gained his freedom after 23 years in prison. We hit the roads for distributions after the sacrificial slaughters and packing. We reached out to Gaza’s orphans, widows, wounded residents and separated families. We distribute Qurban meat sometimes passing through rubble, sometimes through narrow streets of camps and sometimes through roads seeing Israeli border units.

In shadow of Israeli warships It is impossible to reach blockaded Gaza from air and sea, while land access is problematic and diﬃcult. Gaza’s only airport, the Arafat Airport, has not been used since it was bombed years ago. The monument built for the memory of the Mavi Marmara martyrs, the most significant witnesses to the deathly siege on Gaza, is located at the Gaza Port. We visited

The Gaza City Port Memorial paying tribute to those slain on the Mavi Marmara

the monument here and set out to sea with fishermen. The group worst hit by the naval blockade are fishermen. We listen to their stories as we reach the three-mile limit. Their biggest problem is the restriction on how far they can sail from the Gaza coast and since they cannot sail that far they cannot catch enough fish. To make matters worse, the three-mile limit is narrowed to one mile in the season when fish swim near the coast.

Leaving Gaza The embargo on Gaza is not lifted yet but the morale of the Palestinian people is much higher and they believe in themselves more than ever. This is the result of the Mavi Marmara, they say, the Freedom Flotilla and Mavi Marmara introduced us and our cause to the world and people from far parts of the world are coming here for the Palestinian cause.

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ORDEAL OF SYRIAN PEOPLE Osman Atalay Syria, which came out of the French mandate in 1946, fell under the power of the Baath Party in 1963 following civil unrest and successive military coups. Party leader Hafez al-Assad gradually raised his status during his rule both within the party and the military. He was elected to the Baath National Leadership in 1965, became the single voice in Syrian domestic politics in 1967 and in 1970 rose as the sole leader of the country and the Baath Party after jailing all his opponents within the party. In 1971 he legitimized his power by getting 99 percent of all votes in a sham referendum as was the case in other similar dictatorships around the world.

Pressure on opposition increasing In the 1970s and 1980s, a cruel and bloody crackdown policy was launched against the Muslim Brotherhood, the strongest opposition movement in Syrian. As per the first article of the law number 49 that was enacted on 7 July 1980: any member of the Muslim Brotherhood is deemed criminal and condemned to death by hanging. In 1980 special military units led by Rifaat al-Assad, brother of Hafez alAssad, hanged 550 members of the Muslim Brotherhood at Palmira Prison without any trial (Rifaat al-Assad is known to be responsible for the Hama massacre. He lives in Britain and France). In 1982 the city of Hama was bombed by jets, tanks and 12,000 troops under the command of Rifaat al-Assad and about 40,000 people were killed during the three-week long crackdown. According to reports

Hafez al-Assad, who is a member of the Nusayri minority that constitutes 10 percent of the Syrian population, divided governmental institutions among his close relatives and members of the Nusayri community. Assad ruled the country with an iron fist after he established one-man rule in 1970, prohibited every opposition movement and even ordered opponents ﬂeeing abroad to be assassinated, denying them the right to life even in exile. In this period, press and media organizations, NGOs, political parties and major commercial enterprises were kept under state control and monopoly.

by international rights organizations, 20,000 people are still missing.

Power from father to son When Hafez al-Assad died in 2000 his son Bashar al-Assad came to power. The news of the appointment of ophthalmologist Bashar al-Assad as the new president came as a surprise both to him and the Syrian people since he was quite distant to politics. The fact that Bashar, who was put in charge of the country when the groomed heir died in a traﬃc accident, was modern, moderate, British-educated, pro-Western and married to a Sunni woman raised hopes for the Syrian people. The Syrian people and opposition expected a new and different Syria with Bashar coming to power. During his 10-year rule, Syrian diaspora, liberals, leftist groups, Islamist groups, intellectuals, politicians and artists called on the government many times

to remove political restrictions and rebuild a free Syria. However, Bashar stalled the entire opposition for 10 years and overlooked the detention of 3000 opponents during his time at the oﬃce.

Arab Spring spreads across entire Middle East As Arab protests/revolutions erupted in Tunisia in January 2011 and spread to Yemen, Egypt and Libya rapidly, the voices for freedom inside Syria also started to be heard in a stronger fashion. Protests broke out in the city of Deraa on 18 March and quickly spread to Hama, Homs, Deir ez-Zor, Idlib, Baniyas, Latakia, Damascus and Aleppo. From that day on people poured into streets on Fridays to demand Bashar make reforms and an end to repressive and dictatorial regime of the Baath Party, and were not demanding an end to the rule of Bashar. People were still hopeful about Bashar during the March, April and May protests. The

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Change unavoidable

protestors’ attitude to keep a distinction between Bashar and Baath regimes was clearly visible. However, Bashar did not keep his promises for reform in the three speeches he made in the face of growing protests.

Oppression unabated Today children and women are killed in a crackdown on escalating protests and arrests, detentions, and bombardments of mosques and residential areas continue. Since the protests began 5000 people have been killed, 30,000 detained and 3000 have gone missing, reports say. It is claimed that 185 children have died from torture and bullet wounds. The exact number of the killed, wounded and missing cannot be verified since the Assad government implements a controlled disinformation policy and does not allow Arab-Islamic and Western rights organizations and press into the country.

Syria, which has a society of diverse ethnic, sectarian and religious groups (10 percent Nusayri, 10 percent Christian and 8 percent Sunni) and where different ethnic groups such as Kurdish, Turkmen, Assyrian, Druze and Arab have been ruled by a dictatorial regime for four decades by a single party and one man, has reached a point of no return. The Syrian people wish to get rid of the police, military and intelligence apparatuses as well as the Assad family, relatives and close friends who have established themselves in all the public institutions and bodies for the last 40 years. It is possible to see liberal, leftist, Islamist, nationalist and many more colors in the uprising of the Syrians, who say “no more” to the hardships, pressure and torture their grandfathers and fathers underwent. The Syrian National Council aims with Nusayri, Assyrian, Kurdish and Arab participants to write a new constitution with the hope of founding a new Syria, put an end to the Baath regime and elect its leaders freely.

Interpreting change In today’s postmodern world where the minority governs the majority, especially at a time when communication and information

technologies are at their peak, we have to read carefully the reasons why people in the Arab world - in a generation aged between 18 and 50 which is undergoing sociological change and transformation - said “no more” to dictators and confronted death for eight months in squares for freedom, justice and social participation. The ongoing popular protests in Syria are cruelly criticized by some quarters, and a people rising against the four decades of oppression and torture is accused of being pro-Western and a pawn of the West. It is impossible to see the truth if ongoing events in Syria are viewed from a perspective of political, ideological and geopolitical interests rather than from a perspective of justice, conscience and compassion. The Syrian people are demanding justice and freedom with their own free will just like peoples of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Bahrain. They are fighting against massacres and injustices as the peoples of Bosnia, Kosova, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Philippines-Mindanao, Thailand-Pattani, Kashmir, Iraq and Palestine. Oppressive dictators are sometimes Serb, Orthodox, sometimes Catholic, Buddhist, Nusayri and sometimes Muslim. What we need to do is to put our hand on the book of Islam and our conscience, not on realpolitik books when interpreting the events. With the sanctions imposed by the Arab League, Syria has reached a point of no return. We hope the Syrian people will gain their freedom soon like the peoples of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, and get rid of the repressive dictatorial regime.

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SETTING OUT FOR MALAWI Murat Yılmaz

alawi is a small country in southern Africa and is surrounded by Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique and Lake Malawi, the continent’s third largest lake. It is as if Malawi has all the greens of the world. It is the land of quiet, peaceful and smiling inhabitants. It has clean air and ample water. Lake Malawi, which covers one fifth of the country’s area, has bestowed life on Malawians for centuries with its delicious fish and usable fresh

Islam’s advent to Malawi The history of Malawi follows a similar course to the history of other African nations. It is a long and sad story. Periods of colonial violence and pressure are the darkest days of the black continent. Nsangeni children, who can only find corn once a day, are witnesses of these days. These children eat pounded, watered and jellified corn. And only once a day. Around half of Malawi’s 13m population is Muslim, though oﬃcial figures put it at 13 percent. Islam reached the country via Zanzibari Muslims. It was Arabs who contacted natives of Bantu origin. They formed the Swahili community in the country. However, mass conversions to Islam came when the biggest Malawian tribe Yao accepted Islam. The Yao people inﬂuenced the conversion of Lomwe, Nyanja and Mang’anja tribes as well and Islam started to spread inland. Towards the middle of 19th century, a

water. Lake Malawi is generous like the inhabitants. It gives people blessing and love with Shire River stretching until the Indian Ocean. For Malawi the dry season ends with October and rains begin to fall in November. It rains like poetry in Malawi. You just sit back and enjoy this wonderful performance and if you are lucky enough to have a chakaranda tree in sight painted in lavender you feel entranced and thank the Almighty.

commercial center set up in Nkhotakota by Zanzibari Muslims increased activity in the region and Islam had spread to every corner of the country by 1860s.

Colonial rule The history of colonialism in Malawi dates back to 15th century. The occupation and colonialism of Portugal was not only limited to Malawi and its surrounding areas but stretched from Kenya to Mozambique and from the East Africa coast to West Africa until Angola. The Portuguese occupied the lands as they progressed inland through the Zambezi River in the 1530s and sent the Muslims they enslaved to plantations in Brazil. The Portuguese violence lasted for several centuries and was finally replaced by the British colonial rule by the end of the 19th century. With an agreement signed by Britain and Portugal in 1891, Nyasaland (Malawi) was left to Britain.

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Missionary activity in Malawi From that date till its independence in 1964, Malawi suffered extensive damage in almost every area. All underground and surface resources of the country were exploited and the people’s beliefs were harmed with missionary activities starting in the mid-19th century. The activities that started in Mangochi spread under the leadership of David Livingstone countrywide with missionary schools. Muslims were only given permission to open several schools in 1930 but the schools were forced to shut down a year later due to pressure from the church. For about a century no children were allowed to attend schools unless they were baptized and given Christian names.

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The Muslim community continued to be the majority group in Malawi despite all restrictions. Even in the 1950s their population remained over 60 percent. However, increasingly more pressure was exerted over the Muslim population and Malawi could not stand the disaster any longer. Considering the millions who even today need a morsel of food to eat and a meter of cloth to wear, it is obvious that fighting the groups that allow no religions other than Christianity to live requires serious effort. We once again witnessed with the IHH Qurban campaign the realities of Malawi, where destitution has become an ordinary fact of daily life despite the country’s rich resources. In Malawi, missionaries have control over almost everything. Protestants, Catholics, Evangelists, Jehovah Witnesses, Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists and others: These groups have sort of divided the country among themselves street by street. It seems everything is planned in advance and works according to an

elaborate plan. For instance, in the historical city of Nkhotakota, Anglicans are in charge. The situation is: There is a colossal Anglican church, next to it an Anglican hospital, an Anglican guest house, an Anglican school, and a huge Anglican vocational training center. “We are the biggest here,” they seem to be saying. “No one can do anything without our approval. When you are sick you can only receive treatment at our hospital. If you want to have education, you can attend our schools. Would like to have a profession? We can certainly help. Here is a school where you can learn any vocation that earns money in this region. You do not have a job? We guarantee employment for children graduating from our schools. You are out in the street without a home? Come and stay at our guest houses! You have no money? We give both money and food to the poor coming to our church and children attending our schools!” While the number of Muslims in Nkhotakota, with such heavy missionary activity, is astonishingly high, it is really diﬃcult to foresee how much longer our brothers there can oppose these faith-killers.

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This nationwide picture is completed with bustling missionary vehicles of Caritas, SOS Children and others pacing the roads incessantly. Only 90 individuals from the 6m-strong Malawian Muslim community could go on hajj pilgrimage this year. The number was only 40 last year. Even the number of children taken by an ordinary missionary organization on an overseas tour is well over this. After witnessing the struggle of Malawian Muslims to remain Muslim, we cannot help but think of the situation of the Muslim ummah

that is unaware of this. Malawian Muslims need extraordinary power to guard their faith. They will look but not see; get hungry but not ask for; get sick but not go to missionary hospital despite risk of death; will not send their children to missionary schools even for the risk of illiteracy. Who among us can approve such a method? What I am trying to say is that we as the big Muslim world have left our brothers at the mercy of lions in the arena!

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FAIZAN AHMAD : PERFECT MARTYRDOM Mustafa Emin Büyükcoşkun I listened to a lot of martyrdom songs when I was a child but I never thought I would witness the death of a martyr. However, the Ramadan trip we set out on thinking “Are there Muslims in Nepal?” was also going to be a journey of martyrdom as well. I met Faizan Ahmad during our visit to Nepal as part of IHH 2011 Ramadan campaign. He was a slender, smiling, polite and educated Muslim. He had a different character, intellect and constructive skill than other heads of organizations I met during IHH activities in Asian and Africa. He would listen to his counterpart well, respect the people who could make themselves understood but also would not refrain from intervening with the awareness of his societal responsibilities. When we entered the Kashmiri Masjid for noon prayers (the masjid where he was martyred on 27 September morning), he pointed to the t-shirt I was wearing and warned: “My brother Mustafa, I do not know how it is interpreted in your country but in this part of Asia our people do not approve of entering the mosque and praying with a t-shirt featuring a picture and might stare at you with frowning faces, making you uncomfortable.” Even this quite natural and wellintentioned warning gives us important clues about Faizan Ahmad’s personality. Despite the difference of age, qualification and competence between us, Mr. Ahmad made his right warning in a careful manner neither putting me down nor causing a backlash. As he invited his addressee to knowledge, he carefully avoided any indirect insult to his ego. As a youngster accustomed to love and gentleness-deficient warnings - though well-intentioned - of old people in mosques of Turkey, Faizan Ahmad’s attitude evoked a lot of

emotions in me. I can tell a lot of anecdotes about Mr. Ahmad like this. Unfortunately all these are far from bringing back the lost one; they are only capable of awakening a fading memory. Like many other Nepalese Muslims, Faizan Ahmad had acquired his bachelor degree in India and graduate degree in Pakistan. Ahmad was working at the Social Affairs Ministry in Kathmandu and running general secretariat of the Islamic Sangh Nepal Foundation at the same time. Faizan Ahmad, who himself converted to Islam in his youth, particularly told us about his activities for newly-converted Muslims and informed us about educational and social support programs directed at these people. Such an activity alone required a lot of effort, devotion, vision and care, and was a product of quality design that would facilitate and strengthen integration into the Muslim ummah of new Muslims who stepped from one kind of paradigm into a totally different world of meaning, faith, and values. Faizan Ahmad was a Muslim who attached great significance to educational and cultural activities and meticulously worked for the development and perpetuation of such programs in a certain perspective. He also had significant contributions to the project of translating the Holy Quran into the Nepalese language. On contrary to an approach that sees founding educational institutions as equal to collecting donations for laying a concrete foundation, Mr. Ahmad had a rich background that would take into consideration and plan in educational activities each and every detail and design effectively and for the long-term. While showing us the

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construction site of a madrasah in Biratnagar, he excitedly talked to us about his plan to turn the institution that was about to start education at secondary level into an academy of graduate education. It was impossible not to share his excitement. The sincerity of Faizan Ahmad was like a lesson on what sincerity really was. One of the most important qualities of Mr. Ahmad was his ability to read the present well and build the past, the present and the future on this perspective. In a conjecture where Muslims are not in charge and they have to live a life under the authority of an unsound paradigm, Faizan Ahmad followed a principled and consistent life philosophy neither sliding into pragmatism nor being carried away by an unsustainable radicalism. When we asked about the relatively positive treatment of Muslims by Nepal’s Maoist government,

he said it stemmed from the government’s policy of standing at an equal distance from all religions in order to strengthen secular politics as opposed to kingship-rooted Hindu oligarchy annulled in 2006. “Although we are aware of this instrumental approach, we are using this opportunity to its maximum; for instance we vigorously campaign to strengthen our position by registering Muslims as a “minority” in demographic censuses but we also take measures not to let this situation result in Muslims’ being tagged”, he said. He was aware that the real purpose of the question was about democracy and secularism and instead of shrugging his shoulders in an apathetic manner, he implied they were “aware” of the situation with an ironic smile. Despite politically and economically having extremely weak vehicles at their disposal their devotion to maintain their existence and struggle without compromising their principles could serve as a meaningful example for us, since we are experienced in being integrated into the system. As a person who has so far had the chance of meeting various Muslim communities around the world on a number of occasions and missions, our visit to Nepal deeply affected me. The extraordinary character of Faizan Ahmad had an important role in this. In the article I wrote about the visit upon our return, I remember using the expression “Alija of Nepal” to describe him. In Nepal, Mr. Ahmad seemed to reﬂect the wise, modest and positive attitude of Alija Izetbegovic. Maybe they were both rare but fading examples of the lost legacy of the same cultural climate and civilization. Faizan Ahmad was a sorrowful and great loss both for the Muslim ummah and Nepal, one of the subordinate children of the ummah. We pray for the acceptance of his martyrdom.

people of s d good dee

FAIZAN AHMAD (1970-2011) Faizan Ahmad was born in the village of Bokhraha, Sunsari in 1970. He graduated from the Aligarh University Faculty of Economics and received training in Islamic subjects from Azamgarh Jamaat al-Falah at the same time. He later attained a graduate degree in economics in Pakistan. He joined al-Hira Education Association and worked as a manager at the Islamic Hilal Schools in Bhutaha, Sunsari. He made the school a leading educational institution with his exemplary personality and guided the Muslim community. Faizan Ahmad, who was the general secretary of the Islamic Sangh Nepal Foundation, an institution that has been offering educational, cultural and health services across Nepal for four years, was married with two sons named Hamza, 11, and Adnan, 6, as well as a 40-dayold baby daughter. He was martyred on 27 September in Nepalese capital Kathmandu with five bullets in his head and chest as he was leaving the mosque after morning prayers.

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