The Gift of the Givers arrived home over the weekend, to a crowd of cheering fans, a brass band and the heartfelt thanks of Turkish Consul General, Sinan Yesildag.
South Africa (20 February 2023) – Gift of the Givers and search and rescue support teams arrived home to a heroes welcome this weekend after spending time helping the citizens of Turkiye.
Gift of the Givers along with several support organisations, made up of the SAPS K9 Unit, SARZA and Medi Response to name a few, joined other international teams in search and rescue efforts across the disaster zone.
The teams were deployed to the hardest hit city of Hatay where efforts have been underway to clear as many collapsed buildings as possible to recover the bodies trapped beneath the city. The city fell in the early hours on the 6th of February 2023 when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook Turkyie and neighbouring Syria. The disaster has been heartbreaking to see as the death toll keeps rising each day.
From sniffing out surviving people within the rubble of the city, to offering aid, opening hospitals and giving people closure the teams were incredible!
While the South African teams are now home, Gift of the Givers still have teams on the ground in both Turkiye and Syria.
The Turkish consulate gave thanks to the team for their efforts in helping to save as many people as possible.
“I know you are very tired, you had a very difficult time in Turkiye. You witnessed pain and tears, but you saved lives. The Turkish people are grateful to you and your families – thank you,” – Turkish Consul General, Sinan Yesildag
If you would like to support the people of Syria and Turkey, you can do so by supporting Gift of the Givers here or donating via BackaBuddy here. You can also stay up to date on the team’s work within the two countries by following Gift of the Givers on Facebook.
Take a look at the welcome the teams received when arriving home this past weekend. Eye Witness News was on the ground to capture the moment.
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