Coolderry woman delivers aid to earthquake survivors in Turkey

COOLDERRY WOMAN Ena Larkin is just back from an emotional trip to Turkey during which she delivered essential items to a large number of earthquake survivors in the country.
Ena has a long and close connection with Turkey, having taught English to school children for many years in the cities of Istanbul and Izmir.
As a result she has fluent Turkish and has a number of good friends there.
When the terrible earthquake happened on February 6th killing 60,000 people, Ena was deeply upset by the images she was seeing coming from the country. She felt she had to do something rather than be a bystander.
“Turkey was very good to me,” she told The Midland Tribune. “I have the most amazing, wonderful memories of my time there. I was devastated by the news and very upset. I can’t explain how bereft I felt. I think that as a people they are sweet, kind, generous and helpful, and they have a great sense of humour. They also have a great culture.
“I contacted my lovely friends in Izmir. They told me that many children who survived the earthquake were in the hospital in Izmir. I told them I wanted to help. They said all help would be gratefully received and they would love to see me.”
She started fundraising. “I got great support from Birr parish and Fr Tom Hogan. In thanks the hospital in Izmir gave Fr Tom a gift of Islamic prayer beads. Fr Tom said he loves the gift.
“I want to also thank the students of Kinnitty and Roscomroe primary schools who made a big effort to raise funds for the cause.” She thanked her “very generous neighbours, including one local farmer who gave me €500.” In total she raised €7,500.
Ena flew out to Turkey at the end of May, arriving in Izmir airport. Having settled in her accommodation in the city she went out to the shops to buy clothing, shoes and computers for the earthquake victims. With the help of two men, who had been neighbours of hers when she lived in Izmir, she bought shoes, t-shirts, trousers, underwear and six laptops.
With the items in hand, they proceeded to Dokuz Eylül University Hospital Izmir where they handed over the items to one of the hospital's managers Çetin Bayram. Çetin had overseen the care of the earthquake victims. He took Ena to a direct provision centre where some of the victims are living. Here, Ena met a woman called Durdane Turgut, whose husband lost a leg when it was crushed by falling rubble during the disaster. As she met those affected by the tragedy Ena said it was an emotional experience. “We were chatting, crying, laughing. They had suffered so much and their emotions were a mixture of pain, hurt and resilience.”
Çetin talked to her about the difficult working conditions after the disaster. He talked about the difficult driving conditions for ambulances because of the bad weather. He was very grateful to the people of Birr parish for their kindness and, as a gesture of gratitude, he presented Ena with the Islamic prayer beads for Fr Tom.
She met one of the rescuers in the aftermath of February 6. “Beneath the building rubble of a house in Antakya he found a two month old baby who was still alive. The baby had no clothes on, in freezing conditions. He also rescued the baby's mother and grandfather, alive, from under the rubble.”
A couple of local newspapers ran stories about Ena's humanitarian visit. The papers are called “Hurriyet” and “Yeni Asit” and have a significant readership in the Izmir region. They referred to her as “the kind teacher from Ireland”. “Irish teacher Ena Larkin has given a lesson in kindness after the earthquake,” wrote another.
Here in Ireland, Ena continues to work as a teacher. “I’m one of the home teachers for school refusers,” she says, “for children suffering from school phobia. Any boys or girls who refuse to go to school, by law they have to be educated, in their homes. I do this in the south Offaly area. I am teaching Junior Cert subjects.”
“I taught in Istanbul and Izmir for many years,”she continued. “I taught for 14 years in private high schools. These private high schools take on non-native, English speakers to be teachers in their schools. I taught at all levels of the schools. Eventually, I came back to Ireland, in 2004.”
In 1999 there was another dreadful earthquake in Turkey, in a region near Istanbul, which caused thousands of deaths, and Ena, along with other concerned people from Izmir, brought aid to the victims. “17,000 people died in 1999. In Izmir we raised money to pay for essential clothing for the victims of the earthquake.”