Mert Kiraz

Question: How did the idea of volunteering come up?

 

Answer: I was already thinking about it when the whole earthquake situation came up, but I thought that maybe I couldn’t contribute a lot going there. My old flatmate was there and he told me that they really needed translators in Hatay and at that point I didn´t have so much going on at home so I decided that it was a good time to go.

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Q: When did you made the decision of doing a voluntary work?

 

A: I talked with my old flatmate on the 23rd of February and I thought about it during the whole day and I made the decision on the 24th, but I didn´t arrive to Hatay until the 27th of February.

 

 

Q: Did you find out which volunteer programs were available before choosing this one?

 

A: No. I didn´t look up for any volunteering programs, I just went there because of my friend.

 

 

Q: Through which association did you do the volunteering?

 

A: The hospital where I worked in Hatay was run by Samaritan´s Purse, which is an American based organization and they were partnering up with an organization called Ilk Umut in Turkish (Hope First in English).

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Q: How did you get to Hatay?

 

A: I picked a bus in the Eskişehir Bus Station that went directly to the bus station in Hatay and once I arrived there, Samaritan´s Purse came to pick me up to take me to the hospital.

 

 

Q: Why did you go for 1 month?

 

A: At first, I didn´t know for how long I was going to be there because I didn´t plan anything, my leave date was open. But then, the Turkish Health Ministry asked the hospital to be handover because the help was enough, therefore they didn´t need us anymore, so I can say that I stayed until the end.

 

 

Q: Did they ask you for any English certificate or any proof that you actually know English?

 

A: Well, when my friend recommended me to go there as a translator, Samaritan´s Purse only asked me for my CV, not even an official English exam that I have taken.

 

 

Q: During your stay in Hatay, did you realize that some information about the situation there did not resemble reality?

 

A: Yes. While I was there, I read that there was a water crisis in Hatay, but it wasn´t a big problem. I mean, it was kinda crisis because people were looking for water, but everyone had access to it. So being there I realized that sometimes things are not as bad as they seem to be.

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Q: You were working in a hospital, so you were in direct contact with people affected by the earthquake. How did you see these people?

 

A: Being in direct contact with patients, made me had lots of opportunities to talk with them. When I went there, it was two or three weeks after the earthquake and I think people got over the effect of the earthquake, they accepted it kinda. They were talking about their loses and what they went through, but it was not in a sad way, they were talking about something normal for them.

 

 

Q: How many hours a day did you work? Did you receive any kind of remuneration?

 

A: I worked twelve hours a day and I receive daily remuneration, around 1200 turkish liras (aproximately 400 euros). This money was given by Samaritan´s Purse, because some people left their jobs to help in Hatay, so they needed to be stable in some way.

 

 

Q: Have you noticed that the foreign people who came to help were well received by the Turkish people?

 

A: I think the Turkish nation is very hospitable, however there was sometimes some tension between Turkish healthcare workers and foreign doctors. These situations didn’t happen in my hospital because it was only American staff, but in the tents where we were sleeping. On the other hand, sometimes patients were a little bit opposed to American doctors. I think these situations happened because there are some news that say that foreign people came with other bad purposes than help local people.

 

 

Q: Was there any earthquake or aftershock during your stay there?

 

A: Yes. There were a lot! The first weeks that I spent there I felt earthquakes every two days, but they weren´t really big. I can say that I felt five or six earthquakes in total.

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Q: How did you feel working in a hospital and seeing injured people?

 

A: I saw some injuries that would normally disturb me but when I was there I wasn´t really disturb by them. I worked in a hospital you know, is normal seeing unpleasant things, but I wouldn´t say it affected me that much. I also think that I handled the situation very well, because I tried to be professional, but when I was trying to be professional there were times where I became like a robot to protect myself let´s say.

 

 

Q: How well did you adapt to living in a tent?

 

A: My friends always tell me that I can sleep everywhere, that I have an amazing adapting skill. I don´t think that sleeping in a tent was hard, but what made it actually hard was the wind.

 

 

Q: As a Turkish citizen, do you think that things could have been done differently in terms of rescue or resources?

 

A: Well, everything could be better, but not only in this situation, in general things can be better always. But in this case, I think that maybe the rescue teams and the government could have responded more quickly.

 

 

Q: Do you have any remarkable anecdotes you would like to share?

 

A: I was with a nurse that was taking the vitals of a woman, like blood pressure and fever. The nurse was American, so the woman was talking to me in Turkish. She was saying that she had pain, while crying, and that her heart was also aching because she lost her child in the earthquake. I was supposed to translate what she was saying, that was my job, but I felt bad translating what the woman was saying to me because I felt like I was disrespecting her in some way if I translated that. 

 

 

Q: Which was the story that surprised you the most and that do you remember most about any of the people affected?

 

A: There was one kebab shop owner that was working as a security in the hospital. He told me that he had six kebab shops and four of them collapsed in the earthquake, and the other two weren´t functioning at the moment, so he had to work as a security because he didn´t have other option as he lost his business. What surprised me about this is that this man accepted the situation instead of complaining about it and decided to look for a job to be stable.

 

 

Q: How do you feel nowadays after all that you have been through during the month in Hatay?

 

A: I feel fulfilled as a Turkish citizen and as a human being because I know that I helped in the month that I spent in Hatay. Still, my mental health was not good the first days after my arrival from volunteering, because I couldn't stop thinking about the hospital, it was hard to adapt to the life that I had before going to Hatay, but I'm okay now.

 

 

Q: Did you feel accompanied during your volunteer in Hatay?

 

A: Yes! I had a few friends there and I met people from USA, Canada, Britain and Australia which I find really interesting. Also, I met local people, so I would like to go back there one day to see them and the evolution of the city. I can say that the environment was really good.

 

 

Q: Would you repeat the experience?

 

A: Of course yes. If something like this happens again, if I can help, if I don´t have anything that keeps me from going and if I feel okay mentally or physically, because everybody should put themselves first, I would do it again. I think that as human beings we shouldn’t just sit down and watch what is happening, we should help others.

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