Origin, purpose and motivation of the association
hilf.hatay (engl. help.hatay) is a non-profit association in the sense of Art. 60 ff. ZGB based in Basel. The association was founded in February 2023 as a result of the severe earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. The founders of the association come from the Hatay region, which was particularly hard hit by the earthquake. Suffering and damage are unbelievable and each of us is doing our best to help those who need it most. Family, friends, acquaintances and strangers are in need and still need help.
Thanks to the global solidarity, willingness and cooperation of countries, people and institutions from all over the world, help could be provided early after the disaster struck. We, as founders of the association, naturally helped as much as we could, but we soon realised that this challenge could not be solved alone and certainly not in one day.
Due to the loss of family members, houses, shops, infrastructure such as hospitals, banks, schools - in other words, any kind of livelihood - the survivors find themselves in an existential and humanitarian emergency. The culture of the province is also in danger of being lost, which is significant not only in Turkey for its diversity, culinary delights and history.
With the initial provision of tents, medicine and food, the first things could be secured. Now it is important to help these people find their way back to a more or less normal life. That is why we, the founders of the association, agreed that a stable basis for a new beginning can only be created if sustainable help is provided.
That is why this association exists. To make a difference with help from here, directly there. Help that people can rely on, not to be left alone, not to give up, to get through these difficult times. We are in contact with many people in the region who have started to organise themselves so that we can quickly find out where, how and with what help can be given. If you would like to be part of this action for sustainable help in Hatay, or if you already are, then we would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
As an association, we have already been able to achieve a few things in the meantime. We have written a blog post about this here.