Syrian-Canadians work round the clock to help earthquake survivors, find loved ones

As rescuers race to find survivors in the wake of an earthquake that has already killed thousands, those here in Canada with loved ones in Syria are waiting for news and doing whatever they can to help.

Marwa Khobieh, executive director of the Syrian Canadian Foundation, sat in her Mississauga office on Tuesday hoping for the best while waiting to hear about the fate of family friends who are still under the rubble.

"We don't know yet if they're alive, and it's been over 24 hours now," Khobieh told CBC Toronto.

She's not alone in her worries. 

The number of dead in Turkey and Syria from the magnitude-7.8 earthquake is now more than 7,000, with thousands more still buried under debris. In Syria, a country where many people were already displaced due to a civil war that's lasted more than a decade, helping victims has been that much more difficult for aid organizations.

Teams on the ground trying to help often don't have the right equipment, Kobieh says.

She says peers in Syria have told her "they didn't even have rope to help families; they're just literally using their hands to rescue them."

"We're now trying to raise funds to be able to hopefully get the right equipment, resources, food, water, and shelter and tents for these families," she said.

The Canadian government says it will provide an initial $10 million in aid to Turkey and Syria. International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan says Canada is also looking at deploying medical and search-and-rescue teams, but it first has to receive an assessment from United Nations disaster response teams in the region. Many Syrian-Canadians tell CBC News they can't wait for that.

Sub-zero temperatures make things worse

Canadian organizations and individuals are raising money to send to teams that are already helping to provide aid and performing rescues around the clock. 

Two of those organizations are Molham Volunteering Team, which is trying to distribute aid on the ground and White Helmets, which is helping to rescue victims trapped under collapsed buildings.

Khaled Abdulwahid, a manager with Molham Volunteering Team in Toronto, is helping to raise all he can so the organization's teams in Syria and Turkey can keep going. 

"The people right now, they are suffering. of course, from the earthquake, but also from the weather," he said. 

With temperatures below freezing, and many homes destroyed, people don't all have coats, he says. The organization is trying to distribute clothing, blankets, heaters, baby formula and food — a job made all the more challenging because the earthquake has left many local businesses in shambles, he says.

The internet is also unstable, making it difficult to coordinate aid and to get news of loved ones to Syrians and Syrian-Canadians alike, including members of the Molham team.

Syrian conflict adds challenges

Muzna Dureid, a senior program development officer with the White Helmets, says people need to understand that aid groups are having trouble reaching northwest Syria because of the conflict.

Syria's Red Crescent said Tuesday it is ready to send relief aid to all the country's regions, including opposition-held areas, and is urging the United Nation to help facilitate the deliveries.

Unless help flows readily into the region, it leaves the few organizations present, like the White Helmets, feeling like they will never be able to help everyone.

"We have vehicles and equipment, but it's not enough," said Dureid.

"It's beyond our capacity as humans; we can't meet all of the needs."

It is personal for Dureid, who came to Canada from Syria as a refugee in 2016 and now lives in Montreal, as she and her peers work or volunteer to help the region, coordinating or fundraising from afar.

Dureid's cousins and uncle live in northwest Syria. When their building collapsed, the family had no choice but to join their neighbours on the street and seek temporary shelter.

The White Helmets team won't stop, she says.

"We still have hope that we can get more people, pulling them out from under rubble," Dureid said.

"We don't have another option."