After the Turkish-Syrian Earthquake, in Berlin

It's been two days since the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Turkey that also affected Syria. I was getting tired of the silence on one of our messaging channels at work. I knew that colleagues are also from the region (but, like our Ukrainian colleagues, might be fearful of seeming 'demanding' if they say anything on their side), and I live in a heavily Turkish neighbourhood and do want to support my neighbours. Also, while the Berlin evening news did report the earthquake with diligence and dignity, my That's Racist radar was pinging a bit because I was fairly convinced that Berliners' response to an earthquake in another country might be different.

So I posted a Guardian article about the earthquakes and asked if donations or appeals have been organized in Berlin as far as people know. A colleague replied with three addresses: one address is in a music school in Kreuzberg; another I've forgotten; and the third was at a co-working space in my neighbourhood. Two Syrian colleagues seemed relieved that the earthquake had been mentioned at last.

Anyway, I did genuinely want to know the answer to my question and wasn't trying to be stodgy.

After lunch I took an hour of my employer's monthly 4-hour volunteer time off budget, cycled off to buy two little packs of diapers, and brought those along with bars of soap, baby shampoo, and toothbrushes, to the donation collection point in my neighbourhood.

When I followed the many people coming to donate, entered a car lot, and walked through to an inner courtyard, I saw that there was a sea of donations and volunteers hidden amongst the buildings. Two tall vans were trying to nudge into the courtyard to receive or drive away donations, a young woman was taping up cardboard boxes that had been stuffed with donations, and blue Ikea tote bags and the cardboard boxes were everywhere. The donations were evidently mostly clothing and blankets and baby diapers.

It might not have been an earthquake across thousands of miles, but an apartment building fire here in Berlin, that had made many people homeless, that the donors here were responding to, based on the urgent, active atmosphere. I felt vicariously proud of the generous spirit that I'm afraid only the Turkish community seems to be showing.

The Berlin evening news has interviewed Berliners who are still waiting to hear from friends or family in Turkey, so I wondered if a few of the donors or volunteers were also trying to do something active to make their time of suspense pass faster.

I dropped off my things inside the building where there was another sea of donations, and left again, arriving back home just in time for a meeting.