Front Burner - Brother in Syria, sister in Canada, ‘helpless’ after devastating earthquake

Episode Date: February 9, 2023

Alaa Alakel says the night after major earthquakes struck her home country of Syria was maybe the worst night of her life. She is a student in Toronto and waited sleeplessly by her phone for news from her family back home in Idlib. Rescue teams continue to search for survivors of the earthquakes that hit southern Turkey and northwest Syria on Monday. It’s the deadliest earthquake in the last decade and, as of Wednesday, the death toll has risen to over 12,000. Among the hardest hit areas was Idlib province, a rebel-held part of Syria that was home to intense fighting over the last decade of conflict in the region. And the earthquakes are only the latest in a string of humanitarian disasters that have broken apart families and devastated communities. Today on Front Burner, we’re joined by Alaa Alakel and her brother, Mohammed Alakel. Mohammed spoke to us from his family's home in a camp in Barisha, a village in northwest Syria. And Alaa translated from Toronto.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Jamie Poisson. Jamie Poisson. As we speak, rescue teams continue to search for survivors of the massive earthquakes that hit southern Turkey and northwest Syria on Monday.

It's the deadliest earthquake in the last decade. As of Wednesday, the death toll has risen to over 12,000 deaths. Among the hardest hit areas was Idlib province, a rebel-held part of Syria that was home to intense fighting over the last decade of conflict in the region. That's where volunteer organizations like the White Helmets have been providing medical services and search and rescue support. But the earthquakes are only the latest in a string of humanitarian disasters that have broken apart families and devastated communities. A country facing crisis upon crisis. Twelve years of war have already wrought destruction, killed more than half a million.

And now this. destruction killed more than half a million and now this. Hundreds of aftershocks are adding to the danger for survivors and for searchers destabilizing the stacks of concrete and steel where hundreds of victims are feared trapped. They are so overmatched right now with what they're facing and there's nobody coming in to help them. There's no international teams, there's no access in, they can't come in from the Syrian side. The hospitals in rebel areas that once struggled to cope with the aftermath of airstrikes are now being stretched to their limits by this earthquake. Today, we're speaking with a brother and sister, Mohamed and Alaa Alakal. They've been apart for years since Alaa came to Toronto to study biomedical science, leaving behind her parents, Mohamed, and their other sister.

Mohamed is a journalist working with Radio Fresh, an activist radio station that delivers news in opposition to Bashar al-Assad's regime. He's speaking to us from his family's home in a camp in Berisha, a village in northwest Syria. And Ala will be translating so I can speak with Mohamed today. Hi, Ala, Mohamed, are you guys there? Hi, Jamie. Yes. Welcome, Jamie. Yes. Welcome, welcome. Hi, thank you both so much for this. Mohamed, on Monday at 4.17 a.m., the first earthquake struck. Can you tell me where you were?

Mohamed, on Monday at 4.17 a.m., the first date, he was in the tent, which is in the camp called Medina Manawira in Barisha village in the north of Syria. And was it immediately clear to him how bad it was? So he just said that, no, obviously it was so strong, the place was shaking, and they knew it was bad from the moment because they woke up on the movement of the ground. And Alaa, you're in Toronto, right? And how did you hear the news? So the moment my dad woke up, he texted me. He was like, it's a very bad earthquake. It's 7.8. We lost connection with everybody.

We know nothing about your sister. That must have been very difficult for you. It was the most horrible, difficult night in my life, maybe. Mohamed, after the quake stopped, what did you do next? Mohammed after the quake stopped what did you do next? First thing he tried to find to connect with my sister as she lived much closer to the border so her area was in experience like more damage especially that she lived in a building and that was like made her in a greater danger of losing her life or kids then in the morning once we made sure that she's okay he left to cover the earthquake

damage around so he left to other cities to see what's going on and how he can help or what he needs to cover. Can he tell us what he saw? Like, how bad is the damage? So he said what's made the situation worse is the kind of building that we had. Because of the number of refugees who lost their home because of the regime and the war, this building was built as a timbering with no regulation. So even if the earthquake was less stronger, it would fall because it wasn't built in a proper way. Can you tell me a little bit about what it looks like, smells like, feels like when he drives around?

Okay, so he said the most difficult feeling is, and they're still having it, it's being helpless. Hearing people's voices under the rubbles for 72 hours and knowing that they're alive and they're suffering inside and not able to do anything. As they don't have any equipment, no cranes, nothing to get them out. It's like just hearing these voices that somebody's alive and he's helpless and people are helpless is the most difficult feeling that they are experiencing right now. I can't imagine. I can't imagine. Has he been able to speak with anyone who needed help? So he's saying he tried to interview people who had their relative under the rubble. He said the problem, the people are in shock. They can't even speak. They can't even talk. They're just sitting on top of the rubbles, crying,

urging to find a way to get their people out. Whenever he tried to talk to somebody, they can't even get a word out of their mouth. They're just frozen. The complete shock took over everything. I know Mohammed was able to speak with one man the complete shock took over everything. I know Mohammed was able to speak with one man who lost his whole family. And I wonder if he could tell us about him.

That man who was at work shift and came after Darth the Quick to check on his family, his family was under the rubble. He was only talking to the White Helmet team who was trying to get the people from under the rubble. And he was not even listening to them because it was dangerous. So the White Helmet team were asking him, uh move from this area it's dangerous we will let you know once we find somebody we'll obviously let you know and he was just crying and screaming uh muhammad and other people were around trying to make him come down and take him away from the location they were like trying to support him a little bit to say, have some hope, maybe they're alive.

They will get them. They're doing their best. And that man was just crying and shaking his head to them with no words. Ala, what's it like for you to hear your brother describe this? It's more hopeless than anything in the world. I can't even, you know, he's there. He can see their face, people's faces. He can see his friends' faces.

He can kind of wait for us to say something to support them emotionally. But me being here, I'm not even able to provide any kind of support. Not emotional, not financial, nothing. So I feel like an outsider. Like, I can't really connect with my people. I'm really very sorry that you're going through this, and I can't imagine how difficult it is for your entire family right now.

The people who have lost their homes, how are they managing right now? How are they staying warm? Okay. Mohammed Al-Alam, who lost his house and is still living in Ashwat Al-Khantla. I was going to talk about this. So he said that there are so

many people who lost their home or they can't go back to their home because it's not safe. So many buildings fall after the earthquake. So it's not safe for them. Some people got managed to, I mean, some organization provided some shelters, but unfortunately, not all people are able to get to a shelter because the capacity is very limited. There are so many people who are sitting in the streets or in like cars, but still they can't get heat because even in the car, they need fuel so they can turn it on. It's not only heating.

It's not only heating, he said, they are having problem providing meals to these people. Some organizations are trying their best to cover and provide some food, but still they don't have the capacity to provide to all victims. And is he seeing more aid come? And is he seeing more aid come? The only thing entered the north of Syria, which is the area that doesn't follow the regime control. It's out of the regime control. The only thing enters is the bodies of the dead people who died in Turkey from the earthquake. There is no any kind of aid got into the north of Syria. There is kind of interest called Bab al-Hawa. They confirmed there is not any kind of aid into the north of Syria.

He mentioned before that some Arab countries provided aid, but this aid went to the regime area, not to us. Ola, why are the bodies coming into Syria from Turkey? So one thing people, I think they don't know, Gaziantep area or south of Turkey, which is the area close to Syria border, are populated by Syrian. to Syria border are populated by Syrians. So there are Syrians who live in Gaziantep, Rouhani, Hatay, who died because of the earthquake. So now they're sending the body to their home country. In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection.

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That's not a typo. 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Couples. Ala, before you were talking about how you feel like an outsider right now, and do you mind if I ask you what it's been like for you these past years studying and working in Toronto with your family still living in Syria and now going through this catastrophic tragedy? tragedy it's been really difficult for me being away from them um even the time difference like it's eight hours like i wake up they go to sleep i don't have that much time to connect with them but with what was making me like feel a little bit or give me the patience or the strength to continue. It was like I'm doing something that they are proud of it that I'm doing because we appreciate education so much. Me doing my dream or continuing my education was giving us the strength.

was giving us the strength. Even me being able to work and support them financially is like, okay, if I wasn't here, maybe I would not be able to support in any way. Maybe I'll just be helpless there. Have you tried to bring your family to Canada? I don't have the resources to do that. I just started my full-time job. So I was like, and I just became a citizen on September 2022. So I was like, maybe now I can work full-time, like have a better job.

Like I'm already working full-time, but having a better job with a better payment will make me be able to save and sponsor them. In the last few years, I wasn't able to. I didn't have any kind of like financial resources to get them out. And Mohamed, have you wanted to leave Syria? Mohamed, have you tried to leave Syria? So he's saying he tried to apply for so many scholarships to get out. The problem going illegally is very risky.

And he did not want to risk his life to die alone, for example, in the sea or on his way. on the sea or like on his way. So he tried only legal way, trying to apply for a scholarship or studying out, but unfortunately it didn't work. I know he's just 25 years old, right? This is, Muhammad's your younger brother. How would he describe what his life has felt like these last 10 plus years since the war started it

must be basically all he can remember right yeah it was very difficult to experience and to live in such a condition. He lost 20 of his friends. They died in front of him. He lost them. He said despite the bombing and the war, they tried to keep looking after their dream he continued right to study he said they had ended the lecture with the bombing with airplanes once he was walking just glass and then a car exploded 70 meters from him. He had to work and study because he had to support himself also.

Still, he had to go to school while they're confirming the death of his friend or his colleague. sometimes he felt like that's that was so difficult just to keep going with losing so many Looking forward, how does he feel now, knowing how hard the road ahead is going to be after this earthquake for his friends and his family and his neighbors. How do you imagine the situation will be?

He's saying that it will be very difficult for anybody, for them to trust, to live for a building. They're completely traumatized. Even him, he's traumatized to enter any kind of building, which can make a housing problem أو أي نوع من المبنى الذي سيصنع مشكلة المنزل لأن الناس مخاطرون جداً لعيش في مبنى مثل هذه قال أنهم كانوا يمتلكون مصاب بأرض الأرض لكنه كان حوالي 4.2 مقاومة لكن بعد هذا After this, people are extremely traumatized and they don't know how to deal with it. I know it's nighttime in Syria now, but what's he planning to do when he wakes up tomorrow morning?

What's he going to do? So his plan tomorrow with his colleague, they have to go and check what's remained from the buildings in other city and to confirm if the buildings are safe for people to live and to use or not. So this is kind of the mission tomorrow. Alaa, I know it's been a long time since you've been able to see your brother in person, been able to hug him. I imagine you're probably very proud of him and what he's doing right now. I'm very proud of all of them.

Like, they are the one, they're only my mom, my dad, my sister, even the kids. They take care of me more than I take care of them. They're always like, we're okay. You should eat. They try always to smile, to laugh, just to make me feel like they're okay. I'm just proud of them, all of them, my brother, my family, my sister for raising her kids, just to keep smiling and laughing despite everything they're experiencing. I wonder if you could tell Mohamed from me, well, to you as well, I'm very glad that he is okay and that your whole family is okay right now and that I hope he takes good care of himself. Thank you so much.

I hope he takes good care of himself. Thank you so much. Mohamed, I want to tell you that I am very happy that you are well and your family is well. And that you take care of yourself and your family. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mohamed. Thank you, Amma. Thank you to you both. No problem. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mohamed. Thank you, Alaa. Thank you to you both. No problem. Thank you so much. All right, that is all for today. I'm Jamie Poisson. Thanks so much for listening. We'll talk to you tomorrow.