After the initial excitement of flying out of the UK to the vibrant Istanbul, I sit in a hotel room, alone and reflect on the days ahead.
As a lead and strategic fundraiser, most of my involvement has always been to pull a campaign together, tell the story to the world and get the much needed support for the suffering.
My last field visit was to Kashmir, Pakistan, shortly after the catastrophic earthquake in 2005. I spent 6 weeks that lead me to the journey I am on now… to support the need of humanity no matter where, who, when, why or how…
Tonight, I sit and think of the suffering I saw then, the devastation, the smell of death that intoxicated my body whilst we walked the streets and wonder what awaits across the Turkish border… I already feel the hurt, the emotion, the suffering… it’s hard to escape even sitting in Istanbul.
An early flight tomorrow will take us to Adana, southern Turkey, a city which has one of the largest flour producers in the country. Not only that, they have supported Human Appeal International with 43 trucks, thousands of tons of flour to support Syrian refugees…
I mean, flour? How often do we think of flour? We eat bread, roti, naans, cakes and never think of flour as life saver, do we?
Well, that’s what the situation has come to, a basic need… flour.
It’s a credit to Human Appal International who ran the “Make Bread Not War” campaign to raise the funds for flour…
Upon arrival, we have time to discuss the day ahead before a press conference with Human Appeal International and IHH, the Turkish delivery partner, world media, and supporters.
Shortly after we travel with the convoy of 43 trucks loaded with flour and I am trying to imagine what does a convoy of 43 trucks even look like?
There is a road as we approach the Syrian border that splits into 3… that’s what the convoy will break into in order to deliver to 3 points of need across refugee camps along the Turkish side…
We will head with one of them to settle for the night before moving into Syria on Sunday after daylight breaks…
