Anna Kierdorf and Antonia Kura had been studying theology at the Near East School in Theology (NEST) in Beirut for about five months when several earthquakes reduced large parts of the Turkish-Syrian border region to rubble on the night of 6 February 2023. They decided to launch a fund-raising campaign to alleviate the despair and helplessness (see our news item on 23 March 2023). In the end, they raised a total of just over €10,000 for the earthquake victims in northern Syria.

"We would like to express our sincerest thanks for every single contribution that allowed us to raise the overwhelming sum of over €10,000! We never imagined receiving so much support and we are all the more delighted with what we managed to accomplish with this money,” said the two theology students.

The first half of the donations were used to send a truck loaded with nappies, hygiene products and baby food from Beirut to Aleppo in May. There, the relief supplies were distributed to the medical centres of the Armenian Evangelical and Presbyterian churches and to the Armenian Old Peoples’ Home, where people outside the church congregations also benefited from the supplies. Another batch of relief supplies worth €5,000 arrived at the medical centres and the old peoples’ home in Aleppo at the end of September.

"As we had much more money at our disposal than we expected, and since our donation campaign was bogged down by complications caused by the difficult economic and financial situation in crisis-ridden Lebanon, there was a slight delay at the start to obtain the relief supplies we needed. This meant that the first batch only reached Aleppo much later than planned," said the students and added: “But in the end, the relief supplies came at just the right time when there was hardly any other aid available.”

The situation in Syria is still very critical. The disastrous economic situation is reflected by rising inflation as well as other factors. The second delivery of relief supplies in September arrived at a time when there was virtually no baby food available locally and other goods had become so expensive in the meantime that people could hardly afford them.

Above all, Anna Kierdorf and Antonia Kura would like to pass on the thanks of the Armenian Protestant and Presbyterian congregations. The international relief efforts were received with enormous gratitude by the congregations in Aleppo. One of the many thank-you letters says, “Due to the current situation, we are facing huge challenges. Your contribution is a sign of hope to us and it has given us the chance to provide help and support to those who need it the most. Your donations have not only reduced their suffering, but have also touched the hearts of the families in need.”

For the two students, one thing is clear: "Our working together on the relief campaign has not only helped the people in need. We've also found some amazing new friends. The contacts we made during the campaign go far beyond the original work. The new friendships are so rewarding that we are already talking about organising joint projects in the future. So let us repeat ourselves once again:  Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your donations!”<o:p></o:p>