Turkish Earthquake Appeal Committee
Our Role
Background
The Committee
Our Initiatives
Mental Health Working Party
Our Achievements
Acknowledgements
Our Role
TEAC’s aim was to assist victims and families of the Turkish
earthquake and members of the Australian Turkish Community. TEAC
researched community workers, service providers, and aid agencies
to make informed decisions about the most appropriate methods of
providing aid to survivors of the earthquake and their relatives
in Australia.
The first earthquake displaced more than 50,000 people. Most of
these people resided in Kocaeli and its capital Izmit, which was
at the epicentre of the 1999 earthquake.
Background
In 1999 in response to a Federal Government initiative, Mr Hass
Dellal and Dr Levent Efe joined prominent members of the community
to donate blood to the Australian Red Cross, as a symbol of respect
for the Federal Government’s donation of A$1.3 million
towards the Turkish Earthquake appeal.
SBS Radio covered the appeal on their Turkish program, and through
remarkable kindness by the Australian people, and additional A$1.2
million was raised and donated to The Australian Red Cross.
The Idea for TEAC (Turkish Earthquake Appeal Committee) emerged
at a community meeting held at the Northern Migrant Resource Centre.
During the meeting, the Multicultural Commission was invited to
assist.
A formal structure and Committee was established and in order
to guarantee success, all elements of the community needed to work
together. We sourced our committee from the following sectors:
- Community health organisations
- Three health worker sectors;
psychology, psychiatry and general practitioner welfare workers
- Both aged care workers and carers
- Youth workers
- Women’s issues
- Religious representatives
- Representatives from the Turkish
Concul
- Both print and electronic media
- Cultural Representatives
- Union Representatives.
The Committee
TEAC held it’s first meeting on 8th September, 1999 at the
Victorian Multicultural Commission in East Melbourne, Victoria.
The Committee appointed Mr Levent Efe as the Chairperson. 17 meetings
were held and four major initiatives were devised that directly
benefited earthquake-affected people living in Turkey.
The committee also developed a number of smaller initiatives that
offered support for family and friends living in Australia.
Two groups formed as a result of the meetings; the first group
consisted of a reference group made up of government and non-government
organizations, and the second was an advisory group. Administrative
support was received from both the Australian Multicultural Foundation
and the Victorian Multicultural Commission.
The Advisory Committee was responsible for:
- Formulating priorities through community consultation,
- Representation
to Government, service providers and aid agencies,
- Develop future
strategies and activities that assisted with earthquake appeal,
- Continue to raise public awareness of the appeal in the media
and the community.
Other observers and participants include:
- Victorian Multicultural Commission,
- Victorian Multicultural
unit,
- Department of Immigration and Multicultural affairs,
- Victorian
Department of State Government,
- Aid Agencies.
Our Initiatives
TEAC joined forces with a similar committee in NSW and together
they made a joint approach to the Department of Immigration
and Multicultural Affairs. Whilst their mission to get special
visas
for earthquake victims was not completely successful, the Federal
Minister, for Immigration and Multicultural affairs, the Hon
Phillip Ruddock temporarily extended visas by three months
for those people
who were already in Australia on visitor’s visas.
Ruddock also granted a temporary extension of one month to Turkish
people staying in Australia. No special visas were granted to Turkish
people living in Turkey.
Four main initiatives were then established and implemented;
1. November 26 1999
TEAC dispatched a container of goods via sea to the Turkish earthquake
victims. The goods included disposable nappies, sanitary products
and baby food. Numerous Victorian companies and Jet Trask, The
Australian Wool Knitters Association, donated these basic supplies.
2. Basic Essentials
Contacts and families in Turkey advised us that there was a
severe shortage of clothes and shoes for earthquake victims
as winter
approached. The Victorian Government and TEAC arranged four
tonnes of clothing and shoes to be dispatched to Turkey.
This would not have been possible without the generous support
from:
- Vivien Collections - donated $150,000 worth of clothing,
- Kittyhawk
International - freighted 230 boxes from Melbourne to Singapore
and,
- Turkish Airlines, who generously carried the cargo from
Singapore to Istanbul to the Turkish Red Crescent Society.
3. Dressing the wound
TEAC’s third major initiative saw 330kg of Algenate wound
dressing being dispatched to Turkey’s Red Cross Society,
in Instanbul. The wound dressing; with an estimated retail value
of A$100,000 was donated by F H Faulding and Company Ltd. Between
the generosity of Qantas and Turkish airlines, the dressing arrived
in Istanbul.
4. Mobile medical teams
On July 21st 2000, a mobile medical clinic was dispatched to
Turkey. The clinic was made possible through the Bracks Government
in Victoria
who offered a A$100,000 donation in-kind.
The clinic was designed to assist earthquake victims as well
as being used for non-emergency work for community immunisation,
health
screening and health awareness campaigns. The following companies
and organizations assisted TEAC in making the clinic possible;Roadstar
Industries spent $250,000 building the clinic,
- A
Range of medical equipment was provided by local Victorian
industries,
- Australian High Tech Engineering provided the chassis
of the caravan.
This contains an operating room, consultation room, kitchen and
bathroom facilities.
The clinic took four months to arrive in Turkey by sea and was
officially handed over to the Turkish Ministry of Health.
Mental Health Working Party
The Mental Health Working Party, with an aim to provide accurate
information concerning the psychological effects of the earthquake,
was established in 1999. Heading the team was Dr Tuncer, who
introduced a number of service providers and individuals to
assist.
The group participants Included:
- The Victorian Tran Psychiatry Unit
- The Moreland Community Health Centre
- North Yarra Community
Health Centre
- Prahran Mission
- North Richmond Community Health Centre
- Turkish
Women’s Association
- Austin Hospital child and adolescent
mental health service
- Zeki Cibik Grafik Designer ‘Émigré’
- Aslihan
Tokgoz.
The groups’ focus was on providing accurate information
on what to expect after the earthquake. In their experience, people
always cope better when they are prepared.
One of the outcomes of the Mental Health Working Party was to help
those carers and service providers identify people who were more
vulnerable and likely to suffer problems as a result of post-traumatic
stress disorder.
Dr Truncer introduced training sessions for service providers,
which included a number of valuable tools such as trauma checklists.
The Mental Health working group worked closely with the community
while simultaneously offering treatment to those suffering grief.
Our Achievements
Most of our achievements have been due to a planned strategy
as well as implementation of our major initiatives. TEAC also
focused
on proving members of the Australian Turkish community with accurate
information. We set up a special information line that was manned
for several hours each day.
TEAC also relied heavily on SBS radio and the Turkish and local
print media as a way of disseminating accurate information.
Once all the tasks and initiatives were completed, TEAC believed
that all aims were completed. The Committee officially disbanded,
however re-grouped one year later to mark the anniversary of the
Turkish earthquake. A vigil took place on Thursday August 17th,
2000 at 3.02am, which was the exact time the 45 second earthquake
struck.
The Turkish Consul General of Melbourne, Mr Deniz Ozmen, gave
a brief speech and members of the Turkish community and other Melbournians
gathered on the Southbank promenade on the banks of the yarra and
left floating candles as a symbol of respect.
TEAC would like to Acknowledge ...
- Dr Levent Efe, Chairperson of the Turkish Earthquake Advisory
Committee
- Mr Deniz Ozmen, Consul General for the Republic of Turkey in
Melbourne
- Mr Hass Dellal , Commissioner, Victorian Multicultural Commission
- Mr John Sparks, Director, Roadstar Industries
- Mr Ken Nizam, General Manager, Australian Hi-Tech Engineering
- Fellow Parliamentary colleagues Andre Haermeyer Andrew Theophanous
- Mayor of Hume, Gary Jungwirth
- Members of the Turkish community
- Distinguished guests
- Ladies and gentlemen
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