By Hafidz Muftisany
We arrived at Kahramanmaras Terminal just as the call to Isha prayer sounded on the evening of February 19, 2023. While looking for a seat, a middle-aged man approached us. Perhaps because he saw the Indonesian Red Crescent vests, he immediately knew we were volunteers.
“Thank you for coming to help us, thank you,” he said as translated by Dilvan, the PPI student who accompanied us throughout the trip.
It turned out that his name was Ziyad (50 years old), a retired Turkish police officer. He immediately showed his police identification card. He was alone. Then word by word rolled out of him. Like he needed a friend to talk to.
It turned out that Ziyad was heading to the city of Denizli. He lived alone in Kahramanmaras. But now he is retired. His mother died in a big earthquake in Turkey. His mother and family are in another city. He wanted to take care of his late mother’s funeral.
We express our deepest condolences to Ziyad. It was his empathy that moved volunteers from all over the world to come to Turkey.
It was like he found a friend to talk to Dilvan, the only one in the BSMI group who could speak Turkish. Like a parent who wants to pour out all his sadness to his children. “He was really sad, feeling devastated and psychologically disturbed. It’s like one disaster after another. After the earthquake, now his mother died,” Dilvan explained the conversation.
The longer we talked, the more intimate he became with Dilvan. Many times Ziyad hugged Dilvan. Tears were floating in his eyes. Not once did he rest his head against Dilvan’s. “He already considers us his own children,” Ziyad said.
Ziyad did look upset. It was clear from his gestures. He often looked at the clock. He often asked Dilvan, “My bus hasn’t left yet, right? I didn’t miss the bus, did I?”.
“He seemed shaken, wanting to leave immediately and meet his family. He always asked me about the departure time and the bus,” Dilvan said.
Ziyad continued to tell stories, I don’t know what he was talking about. He even asked Dilvan to stop by his town. He wanted to introduce Dilvan to his family. He even offered to marry his daughter to Dilvan.
At this point we couldn’t help but smile. Moreover, Dilvan translated shyly. Dilvan had told us that the Turkish people, especially in rural areas, are very kind. Dilvan once traveled around Turkey and met residents at a mosque, he was immediately invited to dinner at home and given a place to stay. “Turkish people are very kind, very kind,” he said.
It was almost 9:30 p.m. local time when Ziyad departed for the city. The time he had been waiting for. Before leaving, he hugged us one by one. As if he was reluctant to let go of his new brother where he poured out all his sad feelings.
Goodbye Ziyad, may his beloved mother be blessed.
