With the donations collected from a telethon charity campaign started by Turkish aid organization Kimse Yok Mu? (Is Anybody There) and Samanyolu Haber TV, construction of a humanitarian complex, which will include a school, hospital, a dinner hall and a vocational training school, has started in Uganda.
Titled “İnsanlık Ölmedi” (Humanity Has Not Died), the show was aired as part of relief efforts for Africa and was broadcast on Samanyolu Haber TV in August. The show was hosted by Gezegen Mehmet, a famous radio host.
Many celebrities from the worlds of culture, sports and business made appearances at the TV studio to support the campaign. Celebrity guests included Kayahan, Seda Sayan, Ümit Sayın, Erhan Güleryüz, Murat Kekilli, İbrahim Erkal, Murat Dalkılıç, Vatan Şaşmaz, Tolgahan Sayışman and Erhan Ufak. They spoke with those who called in to give donations throughout the night.
Kimse Yok Mu officials stated that $330,000 has been invested to build this humanitarian complex in a 39 acre area bought in the eastern Ugandan city of Jinja. The foundation set up a temporary prefabricated hospital in the region until the complex is ready to use.
Prior to the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha (the Feast of the Sacrifice), which started on Sunday, eight Turkish doctors went Uganda to examine some of the patients and check the supplies of the temporary prefabricated hospital. Doctors have made list of necessities to bring from Turkey in their next trip to Uganda this month.
Kimse Yok Mu also distributed bags of meat to the needy in Uganda over Eid al-Adha. Foundation officials stated that the complex helps contribute to the minor economy, as it provides local people with opportunities to work in construction, while others have already set up little corner shops near the complex.
Turkish doctors reduce child deaths in Somalia by 90 percent
Somalis already appreciate the services Turkish medics provide to the draught-stricken people of Somalia in humanitarian camps, as the children’s death rate has fallen by 90 percent over a short period of time due to Turkish health services.
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| Banadir Hospital in Somalia’s capital city of Mogadishu receives hundreds of patients every day. Lokman Çam is one of the Turkish doctors working at the hospital. |
Through charity campaigns started by the Turkish charity organization Kimse Yok Mu? (Is Anybody There?), Turkish doctors have provided health services to 72,000 people since August. A group of 30 Turkish doctors go to Somalia and leave after 20 days, when a new group of doctors arrive.
Instead of providing temporary solutions, the Kimse Yok Mu? foundation now plans to build a hospital to Turkish standards that will provide health care to the poor in Somalia. Officials stated that land has already been bought for the hospital, which will have 100 beds.
Kimse Yok Mu? previously stated that it would renovate the Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu, the largest hospital in the country, after signing a protocol with the Somali government last month. The charity organization will spend nearly $10 million to repair the hospital, which still bears the signs of a longstanding civil war. The operating rooms have already been renovated; however, the hospital’s current conditions are far adequate in terms of hygiene and equipment. Doors and windows are broken, while the toilets are almost unusable. This lack of hygiene poses a health threat to newborn babies. In addition to renovations, hospital personnel will be sent to Turkey from the country on internships.
Published on Today's Zaman, 10 November 2011, Thursday
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