MuslimKidsMatter | A Child’s Thoughts on the Earthquake in Turkey

By Nur Kose

In Ramadan, around the earthquake-hurricane time in the Northeast, our neighborhood lost electricity for four whole days and nights.  I thought that was bad.

I was sitting in front of the computer when all of a sudden the room lights flickered and then turned off completely.  I looked back at the computer and saw that the Internet wasn't working.  At first I thought, I hoped, that the Internet wasn't working because someone accidentally unplugged something in the other room.  But I knew it right from the moment the lights had flickered and turned off…  something we'd been dreading for nearly a week had happened.  Our electricity had gone out.

Four whole days, having to take flashlights into the bathroom, avoiding opening the fridge in case the cold air came out and hot air went in to make the food go bad, having to take cold showers, finding things to do besides computer were pretty hard. But we reminded ourselves that we still had a warm house and nearby neighbors who still had their electricity and could help us.

However, people in Turkey have lost all of that on Sunday when a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit.  Over 150 people died and more than 900 buildings were destroyed.  People don't even care about whether they have Internet or not.  Their homes and all their belongings are gone. It's almost early morning in Turkey right now and hundreds of Turks are ending their second night outside in the cold.  Thinking about the relatively small earthquake we had in Delaware a few months ago and how intense the shaking was for us, I can only imagine what it must have been like for the people in Turkey. And thinking about all those people who helped us when we were out of power for four days, I know that now it's our turn to help the earthquake victims.