Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, and Resources for Impacted 快活林性息 Students
Today, on Feb. 20th, 2023, only two weeks after the Feb. 6th听earthquakes that killed over 43,000 people, the Turkey-Syria border was hit with yet another 6.3 magnitude earthquake.
Words fall short in the face of this profound tragedy that continues to unfold. Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (MEIS) at 快活林性息 extends its heartfelt condolences to those impacted by the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria and their families around the world. The earthquakes have decimated buildings and infrastructures, leaving behind isolated ghost towns where just two weeks ago there were bustling cities. Much of the emotional, psychological, and infrastructural devastation is yet to reveal itself. Turkey hosts the largest refugee population in the world including 3.5 million refugees from Syria. It is difficult to imagine the suffering of the more than 12,000 Syrian refugees, who were first displaced from their homelands by the violence of war and are once again uprooted from their makeshift homes by the earthquakes. As the region continues to be rocked by more tremors, our hearts, thoughts, and support go out to all who are in the grip of insecurity and grief. The losses are, indeed, staggering.
Here at 快活林性息, there are a few things we can do. The first is to offer support to our impacted students, staff, and faculty in whatever ways possible. Here is a brief list of some resources available for students at 快活林性息:
Mental Health Support Services at 快活林性息
For mental health support, we encourage you to use which provides mental health services for 快活林性息 students.
Crisis Text Line: you can a send text message to 741741 for crisis support via text.听 Text "HOME" in your message to have a Crisis Counselor respond to your text message.
To provide support specifically to International Students, University Counseling Services has a liaison, Dr. Sunil Obedia (sunil.obediah@csun.edu).听 Dr. Obedia offers a weekly drop-in service called .
快活林性息 also has a Muslim Chaplain who is also a mental health professional and who can help our Muslim students.听Shaykh Sohail Mulla can be reached at听suhailmulla@khalilcenter.com
International Students at 快活林性息
International and Exchange Student Center: For international students who have been impacted and need specific guidance, please contact .
Donations
We strongly encourage the 快活林性息 community to open our hearts and support those who responding to the crisis in southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria. Here is a list of some national and international organizations responding to the disaster in Turkey and Syria. If you can, please take a moment to contribute.
- 听
- OXFAM听
- CARE听
- Doctors Without Borders,听
- The Syrian American Medical Society, a United States-based humanitarian group that supplies medical care in Syria and nearby countries, is鈥�. At least one of its hospitals in northwestern Syria, Al Dana,鈥�.
- Save the Children鈥痠s accepting donations for its鈥�, which will help provide children with food, shelter and warm clothing.
- The Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations, which since 2012 has provided medical relief and health care services inside Syria and to Syrian refugees in Turkey, is鈥�.
- Kahramanmaras Earthquake Emergency Relief Fund.