"It is my duty to help others in this ordeal."
Ahmed Ali didn't need to think.
When the earth shook in Gaziantep on February 6, the 25-year-old Egyptian, freshly graduated in mechanical engineering, immediately mobilized with his friends, foreign students like him.
Their goal ?
Bring help to those who had nothing left.
"Some come from Egypt, others from Jordan, Syria or Iraq, says Abdelaziz, a 23-year-old Palestinian mechanical engineering student. After the earthquake, we decided to help everyone, whether they are Turks or Arabs, it doesn't matter".
Abdelaziz, Mutafa, Ahmed Ali and Yassir (left to right) during the distribution of the chorba, on February 10, 2023 in Gaziantep.
© Assiya Hamza / France 24
The marauding started on the first day.
With Yassir, the Iraqi, and Mustapha, the Syrian dentist student met in the shelter at the University of Gaziantep, they begin to collect food.
Some they finance, others donated by traders or by the Turkish authorities.
"The restaurants provide us with soup for free, says Abdelaziz. We make rounds according to what we are given, sometimes every day".
"Shorba! Shorba!"
Today, the little band is accompanied by Yassir's Turkish friends: Halil and his fiancée Güler.
With two cars, they begin to criss-cross Gaziantep.
First stop at the private Iraqi school Dar Alsalam, which welcomes 25 families.
The students are busy.
Serve the soup while still hot.
Moustafa and Yassir prepare the cardboard containers, Ahmed Ali hands them to Abdelaziz who fills them with his pink plastic jug.
The wooden counter in the school reception is covered with bowls of soup.
In #Gaziantep, foreign students are mobilizing to help the population.
Here, serving chorba in a school #earthquakes #Turkey #earthquaketurkey @juliettemntlly @France24 pic.twitter.com/YVLoXWD1Ft
— Assiya Hamza (@Missiya) February 10, 2023
"Chorba! Chorba!" cried Halil, knocking on a few doors on the ground floor.
Children then parents appear, to disappear almost as quickly with the precious broth.
"I'm all alone here. It takes a little humanity. There are many women and children who need our help," says Abdelaziz, who has been living in Gaziantep for five years.
His family had to come to visit him from Jordan when the earth shook.
Public donations but also financed by them
It's time to repack.
The soup shouldn't get cold.
Parks, halls of intact buildings, an orphanage for Syrian children… the volunteers have their work cut out for them.
In the black German sedan, Halil and Güler tease each other between two disaster calls.
"We have lists of people that we call to check on their needs and then we'll drop them off," the math teacher explains, while giving Halil a new phone number.
Pasta, baby diapers, blankets… families lack everything.
Both crews stop at the city's Convention Center to stock up on state-funded merchandise.
"Part of the aid is financed by us but the rest comes from the government", specifies Abdelaziz, whose least penny is used for this purpose.
Ahmed Ali is Egyptian.
He arrived to study in Turkey in 2018. Gaziantep, February 10, 2023. © Assiya Hamza / France 24
"This country has given me much more than I expected," continues Ahmed Ali, who hoped to enter the job market soon.
"I have my friends, I studied here, I graduated here, I lived the best days of my life in Gaziantep. It's my duty to give back to him."
For Abdelaziz, the task is all the easier since he knows the city like the back of his hand: "I have been here for five years, I know where the poorest neighborhoods are. We distribute to those who need it, even in the small towns".
Hours of exploring Gaziantep and the surrounding villages
The trunks of both cars are now overflowing.
It is time to go further, to meet the disaster-stricken villages.
Abdelaziz, Halil, Yassir, Mustafa, Ahmed Ali and Güler come to collect public aid to be distributed to #Gaziantep #earthquakes #Turkey #earthquaketurkey @FRANCE24 pic.twitter.com/RicRiuxBJO
— Assiya Hamza (@Missiya) February 10, 2023
On the road, the atmosphere is friendly.
"We hadn't planned all of this. We met at the shelter. I only met Halil today, recalls Ahmed Ali. We work together to help others. We are like a family helping others. That makes us feel so good."
Abdelaziz nods.
"It's an extraordinary feeling to know that we can help".
A way also to try to forget the fear.
"It's unbelievable what happened. It was very hard. We're still scared, that's why we don't want to go home. We live in the museum inside the Gaziantep University. We haven't been home for four days."
They also finance part of the donations with equity #Gaziantep #SolidariteTurquieSyrie #seismeturquie #earthquaketurkey @FRANCE24 pic.twitter.com/ctzEgDnPtB
— Assiya Hamza (@Missiya) February 10, 2023
"I want to stay in Turkey"
The features of the students are increasingly drawn.
The nights are short at the university shelter, where they now live, traumatized.
Their apartments are for them associated with this sinister night.
"I was going to sleep when everything started to move. The bed literally slid 50 cm with me, remembers Ahmed Ali, adding that he immediately got out. Then I remembered that I had a friend who lived on the 4th floor. I went to get it. Afterwards, I didn't return home until the next day to collect my things. I left because I don't know if it's secure".
However, they do not plan to return to their countries of origin.
"I want to stay in Turkey but only if it's secure. I'm waiting for government announcements, says Abdelaziz. I fell in love with this city, I don't want to leave".
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