Cape Town – The Archbishop Tutu IP Trust and the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation are pleading for support towards the Gift of the Givers.
The organisation is currently in Türkiye to assist in relief efforts following the devastating earthquake.
The organisation’s search and rescue teams as well as medical teams with specialised equipment are currently in Türkiye and Syria to provide aid following the devastating earthquake on Monday.
This follows Monday’s deadly magnitude 7.8 earthquake which has reportedly killed over 17 000 people so far both in Türkiye and Syria.
Archbishop Tutu IP Trust chairperson, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, said the world these days is termed a global village due to human technological ingenuity and now is the time to demonstrate that although it is largely economic interests that glue the global village together and it has retained its human heart.
“The children we have been seeing pulled from the rubble in Türkiye and Syria could be our own.
“Much as we are conscious of South Africa’s enduring economic challenges, and the abundance of poverty and unemployment at home, we appeal to those with the means to assist the medical relief efforts of our extraordinary flag-bearers, Gift of the Givers.
“We equally encourage people around the world to support international agencies providing relief to the people of Türkiye and Syria, such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent,” Ramphele said.
The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation chairperson, Niclas Kjellstrom-Matseke, said Türkiye has an urgent need for medical facilities, as hospitals in the quake region have been destroyed.
Kjellstrom-Matseke also said that the Gift of the Giver’s solution is to establish field hospitals in safe buildings, because it’s too cold for tents and once established, besides medical staff, the hospitals will require medicines and consumables
“In Syria, Gift of the Givers already runs two hospitals established during the war. The organisation presently has 320 staff on site at the two hospitals,”
“It is also assisting search and rescue operations and preparing meals for survivors.
“Archbishop and Mrs Tutu have been great admirers of Gift of the Giver’s work,” Kjellstrom-Matseke said.
Kjellstrom-Matseke further added that: “It is an organization that embodies our inter-connectedness. Its courageous and dedicated staff and volunteers will reap rich rewards because, as the Arch said, when we help others’ we also help ourselves”.
IOL