Dimitra is a private employee. Giannis is a civil engineer and Alexis is a freelancer. All people in the neighborhood, with dreams, passions, weaknesses and insecurities. Their life is no different from ours. They fight for survival every day, face the same problems as us, and hope for a better tomorrow.

But Dimitra, Giannis and Alexis have a “fetus”. A “microbe” capable of “hitting” a neighbor and turning him into a “hero”. This is volunteering.

When a deadly earthquake hit Turkey, these people “forgot” about their problems and daily struggle for survival. All this now seemed very small before the catastrophe. Without thinking twice, they decided to pack their bags and leave for a neighboring country to offer everything they could and how they could. These are three members of the Greek rescue team who, along with 24 other people, defied the dangers and difficulties and decided to run for help.

“After the earthquake in Indonesia, this is the biggest disaster”

Asked when they decided they needed to go to a neighboring country for help, Alexis spontaneously replies “immediately”. The rescuer also participated in other missions, but when he saw footage from Turkey, he felt tightness in his chest from the scale of the destruction.

“From the first moment we decided that we needed to go. So far, we have shipped to 20 countries affected by natural disasters. This is the 21st. Pictures from Turkey shocked us. We carried out a mission in Indonesia after a deadly earthquake measuring 9.1 on the Richter scale, which also caused a tsunami. There we saw unimaginable images. A massive disaster that claimed the lives of more than 300,000 people. Based on the images we see in Turkey, I think this is the second biggest disaster we’ve seen after Indonesia. The pictures are shocking,” he said.

“The Turks expressed their gratitude to us”

“Volunteering is a germ. We couldn’t help but answer. The problem was to find volunteers who have the opportunity to be away from their families and work for a few days, ”said Fanis Sarigiannis, president of the EOD (Greek Rescue Team), for his part, referring to kathimerini.gr.

“EOD has 32 branches throughout Greece. This group includes teachers, the unemployed, students, doctors, civil servants, generally anyone who wants and loves to help their fellows. 27 people left for Turkey. The team also includes a rescue dog with its trainer and trainer. Along with the mission are people who can penetrate the rubble and have full equipment, such as generators, compressors, concrete circular saws, hydraulic presses with which they lift the beams, and special cameras with a flexible hose that can be inserted into the gap. helped out for the search. The other volunteers who are on the mission know first aid very well, so when someone gets out alive, they support them before they are taken to the hospital. Finally, the team has people with experience in communications to coordinate the teams that will try, ”he added.

The mission of the Greek rescue group flew to Turkey yesterday Thursday (02.09) at approximately 22.00 pm. At 3.30 am they crossed the border and are expected to reach Adana and from there to the devastated areas.

And, as Mr. Sarigiannis explains, “We have very good cooperation with the Turkish Civil Protection. As the mission travels to earthquake-hit areas, Turkish Civil Protection will take teams to places where there are problems. The welcome given to us by the Turks when the mission arrived in the country at dawn was touching. They thanked us.”