After a massive earthquake struck in the Turkish-Syrian border region earlier this week, emergency workers, volunteers and families are doing everything they can to rescue survivors. The earthquake in Syria, a country torn by civil war, has hit especially those who were already in a situation of great distress. Many internally displaced people who were living in dilapidated homes even before the disaster struck have had to spend the last few night outdoors, in freezing temperatures.

The Wilo-Foundation is immediately started to provide support for relief measures implemented by “arche noVa – Initiative für Menschen in Not e.V., Dresden”, one of the foundation’s long-standing funding partners. arche noVa has been working with its own team in the north-western part of Syria for many years now, which means that its experienced humanitarian workers were already on site when the earthquake struck. However, some of them are affected themselves and have even lost their homes, as reported by the mission head for north-west Syria, Wael Khedr. They also need to take care of their own families.

But there is one piece of good news: right now, aid supplies are still available on local markets, and local partner organisations immediately started an assessment for the planned aid campaign. In the meantime, the first supplies have already been distributed. Donations can thus be implemented quickly on the ground.

For the next two to three weeks, arche noVa’s current plan is as follows:

• distribution of food parcels
• provision of prepared meals
• water tankering (delivering safe water by truck)
• handing out non-food item kits (e.g. hygiene products, blankets etc.)

For further information on ongoing aid measures, please click here.

The Wilo-Foundation has regularly been providing financial support for the association, including for its development cooperation projects in Kenya and Ethiopia, and for emergency relief campaigns following the disasters in Iraq (2015) and Lebanon (2020). The association with international operations that is headquartered in Dresden specialises in water, sanitation and hygiene. arche noVa is active in various fields, from emergency relief, reconstruction and recovery up to development cooperation projects. It works with local partner organisations and local communities, in accordance with the principle of helping people to help themselves.