Those of you who know storyteller Diane Edgecomb are aware of her devotion to the Kurdish people and the reverence and joy with which she shares their tales. I recently received the email post below from her. Please read it and assist her if possible. The task she is undertaking is a daunting one. Many hands will make the load lighter.
Linda Goodman
November 10, 2011
Dear friends,
It is with a heavy heart that I am writing to you about the situation in
Van, Turkey where another major earthquake just happened.
Van and Ercis (area most hit by the first quake), Turkey form the hub where I
begin all of my storytelling journeys among the Kurdish people. They have been
rocked by major earthquakes. Another one happened today. This last Sunday I was
at a meeting of the New England Kurdish Community. There eyes were hollow with
sorrow and they do not even know how to reach out with their fund raising
efforts. They are new immigrants and they also have no country of their own to
support any efforts.
The community is decimated by the way the Turkish government has interfered
with humanitarian efforts. In an effort to make sure it has absolute control
over this region, Turkey delayed relief efforts offered from Israel and other
well-equipped countries for six crucial days. Family members of my friends
texted from under the rubble "I am here, I am here" until they finally fell
silent.
I have worked with these resilient and wonderful people for over ten years
and am going to be heavily involved in trying to raise funds as quickly as
possible. Tents are arriving for the homeless, but can you imagine living in a
tent during a New England winter? Winters in the Kurdish region are much more
fierce. They need wooden houses and my friend, Memet who is in the area, of his
own determination and sense of service is already building these structures in a
tremor free zone. I hope that some among you will consider helping in the effort
I need to launch. Any help in any way is so appreciated.
If anyone has ties to any religious or other group that supports
humanitarian aid and would ask on behalf of this cause, please please let me
know. I can go anywhere to speak, show slides, and invite the Kurdish community
whenever they are available. It is such a horrible situation. And it seems that
everywhere I turn there is a cruel reminder. Yesterday driving home I saw a
billboard "Can you imagine not having a home to go to?" I again imagined and also
imagined winter descending.
Please let me know if you have any thoughts or ideas or can help in
anyway.
Diane Edgecomb
617-522-4335
PS here was the latest news on what people are suffering in the Kurdish
region of Turkey today, hours after the second quake ....
"How can you fire pepper spray on people who have already suffered so
much?" said Abdulrahim Kaplan, 32. He had gone to the crisis center for a tent
when police began firing tear gas, he said. "Our people are freezing. We are
sleeping outside -- all seven of my family," he said, complaining bitterly over
the alleged unfair distribution of tents. "Some people take five tents, some 10
and others get nothing. This is wrong." Thousands of families are living in
makeshift camps with temperatures falling to freezing with the onset of winter.
The latest tremor cut power to the area.
