Local charities in Syria work at total capacity to serve quake-impacted people

Syrian volunteers are seen preparing food for displaced people at a charity kitchen in Aleppo, northern Syria, Feb. 12, 2023. (Photo by Monsef Memari/Xinhua)

ALEPPO, Syria, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- During the past painful week after the massive earthquake that hit the already war-torn country of Syria, local charities have been working at total capacity to help the people who are suffering from the deadly tremor.

The Saed Initiative is one of the charities working in Syria for years, with an aim to help people who were impacted by the 11-year war. Usually, they work during occasions such as the holy month of Ramadan, offering free iftar meals, but now they find themselves before a huge duty that could last for months.

Following the earthquake, the Saed Initiative decided to create a charity kitchen that would give free meals the entire year.

The group distributes between 2,500 to 4,000 meals per day in Aleppo, and they have plans to expand the capacity to distribute as many as 40,000 meals per day.

Isam Habbal, the head of Saed Initiative, told Xinhua at their charity kitchen in Aleppo that the Syrians have shown unmatched solidarity during this earthquake crisis as every house sent help to the people in need.

"This is a collective work that is giving service to our community. Indeed, our community shows what it's made of. At some point, before the relief planes arrived, every house sent help, whether from their clothes, medicines, or food and money," he said.

He said that Syrians "proved to the world and ourselves, which is the most important, that we are all one, not separated by cities."

At the kitchen, volunteers were working hard -- some chopping vegetables, others making rice, and many more packing food boxes into cars to be delivered to displacement shelters.

Syrian volunteers are seen preparing food for displaced people at a charity kitchen in Aleppo, northern Syria, Feb. 12, 2023. (Photo by Monsef Memari/Xinhua)

Habbal said that in Aleppo, his group has 150 volunteers working around the clock to secure meal parcels for the people.

At another place in Aleppo, another charity is providing food for the displaced people.

Eyad Abazid, a board member of the al-Bir and al-Ihsan charity, told Xinhua that local charities have shouldered the significant duty to help Syrian people regardless of the aid from outside the country.

He emphasized the importance of local charities in facing hardships, saying foreign humanitarian workers come and go. After all of this, people in the country remain together, so they must help each other.

Abazid said his charity distributes 1,500 meals every day.

"No matter how much foreign assistance we receive, we should be together because these are our families that have been affected. We have to maintain the momentum of helping each other," he said.

The UN said recently that the earthquake in Syria displaced 5.3 million people. The Syrian health ministry said the death toll of the earthquake victims rose to 1,414 dead and 2,349 wounded.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the earthquake killed over 5,300 people in rebel-held and government areas in Syria, expecting the death toll to rise to as many as 7,000 people due to the number of people under the rubble.