Turkish students from Mizzou, Columbia College work to aid their homeland with awareness

Turkish students at the University of Missouri are doing what they can to help people in their homeland nearly three weeks after massive earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria.

The earthquakes on Feb. 6 were magnitude 7.8 and 7.5., and on Monday came a 6.3 magnitude aftershock. The death toll has surpassed 47,000.

'Like something we've never seen before'

It's Turkey's second biggest earthquake in an area where earthquakes are common, said Denise Hammond, a doctoral student in biological engineering. Hammond has dual citizenship, with a Turkish mom and American dad.

"The scale of this earthquake is like something we've never seen before," Hammond said. "The devastation is actually far bigger than other earthquakes."

It's difficult being so far from her country, said Columbia College Turkish student Beyza Bektasoglu, a sophomore studying chemistry who's also on the volleyball team.

"I'm far from my country, so I kind of feel like I cannot do anything," Bektasoglu said. "It's just hard."

The earthquake struck southeastern Turkey in an area roughly equivalent from New York City to Washington D.C., she said.

The weather has been cold in the earthquake zone, Bektasoglu said.

"So many people passed away not because of the earthquake, but because of the weather conditions," she said.

The father of a close friend died, she said. He was a soccer coach.

"The most traumatic thing for us is we tried for seven days to get help," Bektasoglu said. "No rescue teams went to his city. When they find him, he already passed away."

A team of 13 middle school athletes died in one building collapse, she said.

Roads and infrastructure was so damaged, no one could get into the affected areas quickly, Hammond said.

"The destruction was so big, they couldn't get to people on time," Hammond said.

An uncle's clothing store in the earthquake zone was damaged, said MU Turkish student Kübra Firat, a doctoral researcher in education. They're living with three other families now.

"They are alive," Firat said. "We are so grateful that all of them are safe."

The local voice of the people in Turkey

As time passes, there's concern about donor fatigue, said MU Turkish student Feride Tanrikulu, a master's student in data science.

"Everyone is busy," Tanrikulu said. "There's no time. It's easy to forget. It's important to increase the awareness. This will be our job, I guess."

"We have to be the voice of the people in Turkey," Firat said.

They set up informational tables in the MU Student Center. They spoke at Friday prayers at the Islamic Center of Mid-Missouri and they have visited churches on Sundays.

"Our main purpose is to spread awareness and I believe we have achieved that." Firat said.

Both Bektasoglu at Columbia College and the MU Turkish students are directing people to donate to the Turkey Earthquake Relief Fund, part of Turkish Philanthropy Funds.

Other charities the MU students suggest are the White Helmets relief fund for victims in Syria and Save the Children emergency fund for children in Turkey and Syria.

The students are grateful for the international help, they said.

"I consider that all countries, including the U.S. and our neighbor countries are very generous," Firat said. "We believe we need long-term support. There needs to be continuing support."

They're Turkish, but they also care about Syrians affected by the earthquake, Firat said.

"It is a humanitarian crisis right now," Firat said.

Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: How Turkish students on two Columbia campuses work to spread awareness of tragedy