DAMMAM: Missing families, sunken homes, and shattered lives all drifting in the flotsam of Jeddah’s muddied deluge has compelled the city’s youth to deal with the evolving calamity.
Their youthful spirit has led them to take matters into their own hands by organizing and mobilizing volunteer efforts. Unshackled by bureaucracy or indecisiveness, they have rapidly moved to offer aid.
Using e-mails, SMS messaging and Facebook, young people have taken the initiative to start up groups, to promote debate on the causes of the disaster, to campaign and to share information on the city’s most flood-ravaged areas.
This has led in many cases to youths mobilizing to be the first on the scene. They led by example as more and more youths began to join in, each in their own way—physically or virtually. This was evident by their involvement with much needed work ranging from distributing meals, collecting and distributing clothing, bedding, first aid and medicines, to data gathering of missing people and dealing with displaced families.
And information outside of traditional channels of the Saudi media is being churned out on the Web via blogs, YouTube and photo-hosting sites. Many of these reports and images have surely made their way to high-ranking officials and have helped to influence their decisions.
Youth activist Ahmad Sabri in Jeddah noted the initial shock of the flash floods. “Families have died as a result of six hours of rain,” he said. “Where are those responsible?”
Groups such as Musanadah relief4jeddah, whose headquarters is in the Eastern Province, have seen the numbers of volunteers grow as fast as the donated goods from the public. This group has volunteers as young as seven and as old as 60.
Musanadah volunteer Reem Miraysel, an accounting major at King Faisal University, works to organize donations to ensure they are properly distributed. This campaign has been running day and night and has spread across other regions in the country.
Hassan Jannah, a 25-year-old computer engineer, is currently heading the logistical efforts at Musanadah. He came from the Eastern Province to see for himself the destruction.
“Helping at ground zero in Jeddah before returning to the Eastern Province gives one a perspective of the magnitude of the crisis,” he said. “It has enabled me to highlight the direct needs of those in Jeddah and share them with all who want to help elsewhere. This has given our youth a venue to help society directly and I believe a feeling of nationalization and belonging has emerged and has highlighted hidden leadership qualities.”
The realities on the ground are affecting undocumented residents the most because they are fearful to approach the authorities for help.
At the same time, there are tales of heroics and sacrifice, such as the story of Farhan Ali Khan who saved 14 souls before drowning. A current campaign is now underway to highlight such courageous acts with calls to support the surviving family members of such heroes.
The post-flood dangers remain in many city districts while the issue of infrastructure failure, inadequate response to the flooding and the lack of crisis management add another painful dimension to the catastrophe.
Meanwhile, the youths continue to deal with: “What’s next? How can we help? What does the future hold for our beloved city? What can be done for the missing and displaced? What are the dire needs and priorities?”
But as we clean up and reflect, a ray of hope has taken hold as some pursue the need for solutions to address future environmental and crisis-management needs.
- Nimah Nawwab is the director of Musanadah relief4jeddah.
